On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 07:35:27 -0800, Henry J Cobb wrote:

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRe...d=108-03312004
...
The F/A-22 is the only fighter able to autonomously counter
anti-access threats on Day 1 of a war and thereby open the way for
other US forces.

So is SEAD a near-term or a long-term requirement of the F/A-22 program?

-HJC

SEAD, by it's very definition is a long-term requirement for tactical
air operations. It isn't linked to an aircraft, but to a mission. Air
defenses are designed to deny an attacker access. They can be
surface-to-air assetts or air-to-air assetts.

The stealthy pentration capabilities certainly indicate an ability to
operate "autonomously". Your statement (from observation of your past
bias) seems to be asking if "autonomous" means without other
supporting systems. And, the answer is that on Day 1, the Raptor can
penetrate the enemy air defenses and insure first, air dominance and
second minimal effectiveness of surface systems.

Don't fall into the "yesterday's war" syndrome of thinking that SEAD
means Weasels, or SEAD means F-16CJs, or SEAD means stand-off jammers,
HARMs and chaff dispensers. It simply means what the words say,
suppressing enemy air defenses.

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8