U.S. pilot scares off Iranians with ‘Top Gun’-worthy stunt

LOL-can you say "pass the toilet paper"?

The U.S. Air Force has a message for Iran: Don’t mess with our drones.

In what only can be described as a scene out of Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun,” Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Air Force chief of staff, describes how F-22 stealth jets scared off Iranian jets from a U.S. drone flying in international airspace.

The Aviationist reports that in March a U.S. MQ-1 drone came close to being intercepted by an Iranian F-4 Phantom combat plane, but the Iranian aircraft stopped short after a warning by an American pilot.

“He [the Raptor pilot] flew under their aircraft [the F-4s] to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there, and then pulled up on their left wing and then called them and said ‘you really ought to go home,’” Gen. Welsh said.

According to The Aviationist, the Iranians came within 16 miles of the drone.


Read more: www.washingtontimes.com...

reply to post by princeofpeace


I love to read about our pilots being "wicked".

Our pilots are used to F-4's, as they were (up until recently I think) used for training. The F-22 pilot totally knew he could get the drop on the F-4, as they probably had already tested the stealth abilities of of the F-22 with an F-4 at some point.

Iran: Still flying F-4's

America: Shooting down F-16's that are remotely controlled for training

+1 America.

princeofpeace


In what only can be described as a scene out of Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun,” Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Air Force chief of staff, describes how F-22 stealth jets scared off Iranian jets from a U.S. drone flying in international airspace.

International airspace... shame that the original news story is not more specific as to where this actually took place!?

So if the US jets were flying there then the Iranians had the right to do so too no?

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Came within 16 miles......

I read all that to find out the damned thing was 16 miles away seesh.

The pilot then landed, won the big beach volleyball game, and banged the hot DoD chick right? This sounds like more Rah Rah USA USA! bs propaganda to me.

16 miles away meaning oh about 30 seconds away from the drone.

Should of gave him the Bird. LOL Now that would of been worthy of Top Gun actions.

reply to post by khimbar


Deserves more than a star, genuine burst of laughter got me some me some strange looks on the train

I dont see why its labeled as a top gun maneuver though, he just flew up behind a jet. I believe top gun was about shredding loads of enemy's and just making it back in time for tea and medals....[snip]

reply to post by Rodinus


Iran has every right to be in international airspace, but they don't have the right to shoot down other aircraft (manned or unmanned) in international airspace, that haven't entered their airspace, or tried to inhibit their movements in any way.

This incident happened not long after a Revolutionary Guard Su-25 attempted to shoot down a Predator that was flying in international airspace. The US began escorting their UAVs that were flying anywhere near Iranian territory because of it.

reply to post by Biigs


The F-4s were 16 miles from the UAV, which is within missile range of air to air missiles (although you want to get closer before taking the shot, both to identify it, and to get a better Pk on the missile). The F-22 joined in formation with them, and was right off their wing.

reply to post by Biigs


Because of the beginning of the movie when the first "MiG-28" interception occurred.

They were flying near the UAV at the time it started, so they were in front of the F-4s. He then proceeded to fly under them to check their weapons load, before joining on their wing. That's not an easy thing to pull off undetected, and wouldn't have been able to be done in another aircraft besides the Raptor.

I find it interesting that drones are now often escorted by actually piloted aircraft. Now the work of one plane involves two or more. Savings are really piling up.

Good story though. In the future the other side will have to decide if there is an escort or not.

also whats funny, is using men to escort a deliberately pilot-less machine. Surely that defeats the purpose?

reply to post by roadgravel


Current UAVs (everyone's, not just ours) will survive a matter of minutes in contested airspace. An RQ-170, or something similar is the only thing that will last any length of time, but when you only have 20, you can't use them for every mission, from anti-piracy near someone's airspace, to monitoring weapons areas. You'd have to have the entire UAV force made up of them, which would be expensive as hell.

With a manned escort, depending on where they are flying, you could have an alert flight, on the ground, pilots in cockpit, ready to go, in an Alert 10 situation. An AWACS can detect a fighter launch as soon as they're wheels up, and can plot a course in a few minutes. If your escort is carrier launched, they can respond faster, but the super cruise on an F-22 also allows a fast response time. So you can be saving money, as your escort wouldn't be airborne the entire mission.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Thanks. I understand the logic in this. I do agree that protecting the assets is a good idea and a saving in the long run.

Got to admire US pilots. When an unarmed F-111 on a electronic mission can win a dog fight over Iraq, it says something about the pilot.

Zaphod58
reply to post by Rodinus

 

Iran has every right to be in international airspace, but they don't have the right to shoot down other aircraft (manned or unmanned) in international airspace, that haven't entered their airspace, or tried to inhibit their movements in any way.

Thanks for clarifying that Zaphod, much appreciated.

Might sound like i am nit picking here but i am curious to know how the pilot judged and could prove that the Iranian fighter was an actual threat to the drone and if the US fighter pilot actually has the right to forcibly intervene over international airspace if he can prove that the Iranian pilot is/was an actual threat to the drone.

And, other question... what was a US drone doing in international airspace, as i mentioned earlier on, in the linked news story there is no mention of exactly where this happened.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

reply to post by Rodinus


The American didn't intervene at all. He merely made the Iranian pilot aware, to his surprise, of his presence and that any hostile action towards the drone would likely end poorly for him.

It was probably in the Iranian pilots best interest to bug out.