Courtesy photo compliments of SMSgt Christian Timmig, HQ Luftwaffe/DVIDS
- The F-22 Raptor, a fifth-generation fighter, has a reputation as the top US air superiority fighter.
- But the stealth fighter jet lost mock dogfights to older jets, like the German Eurofighter Typhoon.
- So is the Raptor or the Typhoon the superior fighter? The answer: it depends on the circumstances.
Despite the F-22 Raptor's reputation as the world's most capable air superiority fighter, the stealth jet has lost a number of notional dogfights over the years to older and less advanced platforms like the F-16 and even the Navy's electronic-warfare specialist, the EA-18G Growler. But few exercises have done more damage to the mighty Raptor's reputation than a series of training dogfights with German Eurofighter Typhoons that took place just about a decade ago.
These losses may have been notional, but some people clearly took them seriously. So seriously, in fact, that German Eurofighters were spotted wearing F-22 kill markings on their fuselages after telling the press that they had "Raptor salad for lunch."
With the Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance fighter cruising toward service in the coming decade, it now seems likely that the mighty Raptor will retire without ever firing a shot at another aircraft in anger, making these simulated combat exercises and a handful of exciting intercepts the extent of the Raptor's air-to-air legacy.
So what is that legacy exactly? Is the F-22 truly as dominant as people believe? Or is this fighter's biggest advantage not stealth… but hype?
Where it all started…
US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Valerie R. Seelye
Arguments about the F-22 and Eurofighter Typhoon largely stem from German Eurofighters' participation in the Air Force's large-scale Red Flag air combat exercises over Alaska in 2012.
Red Flag is an advanced aerial combat training course that pits a wide variety of aircraft, often from multiple nations, against large-scale and realistic threats meant to simulate a real near-peer fight.
That year, Germany sent 150 Airmen and eight Eurofighter Typhoons from JG 74, or the Luftwaffe's 74th Tactical Air Force Wing, to Eielson AFB in Alaska to participate in a wide variety of missions over two weeks. Included among them was a series of close-range Basic Fighter Maneuver (BFM) drills with America's Raptors. BFM, of course, is fighter-pilot parlance for dog fights.
After the exercises were over, Germany's Eurofighter pilots arrived at 2012's Farnborough International Air Show, where they were quick to discuss their victories over the F-22. According to David Cenciotti's coverage for The Aviationist, Germany's Typhoon pilots explained that when the F-22 was flying with external fuel tanks attached and fighting within visual range, Typhoons were often able to outclass the Raptor.
How does the Eurofighter Typhoon compare to the F-22 Raptor?
Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters
Despite their generational differences, the F-22 Raptor and Eurofighter Typhoon actually have a number of things in common. They were both originally designed to serve as air superiority fighters born out of the Cold War, with the Typhoon first taking to the skies in 1994 and the F-22 following behind in 1997. Likewise, both fighters ultimately entered service in the early-to-mid 2000s, with the Typhoon entering active duty in 2003 and the Raptor, once again, following behind in 2005.
But despite these aircraft being designed at around the same time to serve in similar capacities, they differ dramatically in how they go about accomplishing their mission.
The F-22 Raptor was always meant to be a revolution in airpower, leaning heavily into America's groundbreaking stealth technology to produce what was — and remains — the stealthiest operational fighter on the face of the planet. But it's not just stealth that makes the Raptor a capable platform. It also boasts a high degree of sensor fusion and advanced avionics that allow for an extreme degree of situational awareness while reducing cognitive load for the pilot. In other words, the F-22's onboard computers allow the pilot to devote more attention to the fight and less to operating the aircraft.
"When you're flying the Raptor, you're not thinking about flying the Raptor," explained F-22 pilot Randy Gordon in a lecture he gave at MIT, "You're thinking about employing the Raptor. Flying is secondary."
But the F-22 isn't all about stealth and sensor fusion. It also incorporates elements of what might be considered 4th-generation dogfighting design: like thrust vector control or the ability to orient its jet nozzles independent of the airframe to perform incredibly aerobatic maneuvers, a high thrust-to-weight ratio, and an M61A2 20mm Gatling gun that can fire its onboard 480 rounds at a blistering rate of 6,000 per minute.
US Air Force photo by Lt. Sam Eckholm
"Raptor has vector thrust: Typhoon doesn't," RAF Typhoon pilot and squadron commander Rich Wells told Breaking Defense in 2013. "What the aircraft can do, it's incredible. The Typhoon just doesn't do that."
And while it usually carries a total of eight weapons internally (six AMRAAMs and two AIM-9 Sidewinders), it can be fitted with four external pylon stations for additional munitions when it's tired of speaking softly and decides to become its own big stick.
As a result, the F-22 bridges two combat philosophies offering such a high degree of stealth and situational awareness that it can win most fights before the opponent even knows that it's there, alongside a highly respectable slew of traditional dogfighting traits that allow it to stand and swing with the most dynamic hotrod dogfighters of the previous generation.
The Eurofighter Typhoon, on the other hand, wasn't aiming to reinvent the existing air superiority model, so much as to perfect it as it was. Its delta-wing design, a shape nearly adopted by the F-22's defunct bomber sibling, offers a high degree of subsonic maneuverability alongside increased lift and range. The design, as well as the materials that make up the Typhoon, all lend it a higher degree of stealth than you might find in most comparably advanced 4th-generation fighters.
In fact, according to Eurofighter promotional materials: The aircraft is built with advanced composite materials to deliver a low radar profile and strong airframe. Only 15% of the aircraft's surface is metal, delivering stealth operation and protection from radar-based systems."
Thomas Wiegold/Photothek via Getty Images
Like many other fighters, including the F-22, the Typhoon also leverages electronic warfare capabilities to obscure its radar return. And unlike the maintenance-heavy Raptor, the Typhoon was designed to be easy to maintain, assembled out of 15 interchangeable modules to minimize repair time. When up close and personal, the Typhoon's Mauser BK27mm gun fires at either 1,000 or 1,700 rounds per minute, with 150 rounds carried onboard.
Since entering service, the Typhoon has matured into an extremely capable multi-role platform, leaving its air superiority roots behind to become one of the most well-rounded fighters in service today, leveraging its 13 hard points for a wide variety of mission sets.
"The Eurofighter is certainly, as far as smoothness of controls and the ability to pull (and sustain high G forces), very impressive," explained Gen. John P. Jumper, former Air Force Chief of Staff and among the few pilots to have seat time in both the Raptor and Typhoon. "That is what it was designed to do, especially the version I flew, with the avionics, the color moving map displays, etc. — all absolutely top-notch. The maneuverability of the airplane in close-in combat was also very impressive."
The Typhoons pair of Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan engines aren't quite as powerful as the Raptor's, propelling the Eurofighter to a top speed of Mach 2, vice the Raptors 2.25 — but top speed doesn't mean much in a fight, and the Eurofighter's comparatively lower weight allows for a better thrust-to-weight ratio for the Typhoon (in its interceptor configuration) than a similarly equipped Raptor.
F-22 vs. Eurofighter Typhoon: What do we know about the exercises?
Mai/Getty Images
Although many details remain murky, there are some things we know for sure about these 2012 dogfight exercises. Based on pilot statements, we know that at least some (if not all) of them were one-on-one engagements. Most importantly, they occurred within visual range with a number of reports stating that the Raptor was carrying stealth (and aerobatics) hindering external fuel tanks.
This distinction is essential because it means the fighting began under a forced pretense that effectively neutered the Raptor's greatest strength: its ability to use stealth and situational awareness to dictate how an engagement begins and, if the reports of fuel tanks are true, its aerobatic maneuverability.
In real life, F-22 pilots would almost certainly be aware of the Typhoon before the Typhoon was aware of it, allowing the Raptor to put itself into an advantageous position before the fighting began (or simply taking out the Typhoon from beyond visual range). And it goes without saying that no pilot would dogfight for their lives with external fuel tanks still hanging from their wings.
This type of exercise is common in military training, however, and could be compared to offensive and defensive positions in scholastic wrestling. A neutral start in wrestling begins with both athletes on their feet — this would be like two fighters flying into an exercise in the same way they might in real life.
Starting in a defensive (or disadvantaged) position, on the other hand, is when one wrestler begins the period on their hands and knees, with their opponent next to them on one knee with an arm over their back (the advantage). In the case of these specific exercises, the F-22 played the role of the disadvantaged wrestler starting from its knees — playing to the Eurofighter's strengths, rather than its own.
Tech Sgt. Michael Holzworth
But like in wrestling, we should note that starting in a defensive or disadvantaged position isn't an excuse for losing. It's just part of the game.
Some allowances were also made for the Eurofighter before the fighting began. While the F-22 was carrying external fuel tanks that, to some extent, compromised both its aerobatic and stealth performance, the Eurofighter Typhoon that participated in one-on-one dogfights against the Raptor was allowed to fly not only without fuel tanks, but without any external munitions at all. This not only improved the Typhoon's maneuverability, but it also couldn't happen in a real fight lest the Eurofighter be left with nothing but its guns.
"There were two mornings where we flew against them 1v1. We pulled off all the tanks to get the most alpha [angle of attack]; the Eurofighter really is an animal with no tanks," Germany's Maj. Marc Gruene, one of the pilots who participated in the drills, explained.
How many of each fighter participated in these drills, what the rules of engagement were, and what the final kill ratios for each fighter were are all details that neither nation has disclosed, though there have been a number of claims made online. While these claims haven't been confirmed, they all report more wins for the F-22 than the Eurofighter, but F-22s clearly took home some losses as well.
Today's Eurofighter Typhoons come equipped with both a helmet-mounted targeting system to engage enemy fighters off-boresight (without aiming the nose of the aircraft at them), as well as the PIRATE infrared search and track (IRST) system that's potentially capable of spotting stealth fighters at distances as great as 30 miles out. This would have been a significant advantage over the F-22 — which carries neither capability to date — but at the time of these dogfight exercises, these systems were still being rolled out to Germany's Air Force, and the Typhoons that participated in the drills did not have them.
What happened when the F-22 and Eurofighter squared off?
According to the German pilots, once the fighting began, the F-22's thrust-vector control (TVC) actually hindered the Raptor, rather than helping it when sparring in close quarters with the Typhoon.
"The key is to get as close as possible to the F-22 and stay there. They didn't expect us to turn so aggressively," Gruene told Combat Aircraft magazine back in 2012. "As soon as you get to the merge… the Typhoon doesn't necessarily have to fear the F-22."
(The Merge, for clarification's sake, isn't just the name of a great aviation newsletter. It's also what fighter pilots call it when two fighters meet head-on in a close-quarters pass.)
TVC does allow a fighter to perform extreme maneuvers, but they come at a high cost. In a dogfight, airspeed is life, and the exotic displays TVC allows all scrub a great deal of it. When the F-22 uses its thrust-vectoring nozzles to turn on a dime, the jet is vulnerable until it can regain airspeed. If it doesn't manage to score a kill immediately after performing such a maneuver, the Raptor becomes easy prey until its powerful pair of F-119-PW-100 turbofan engines can get all 70,000 pounds of fighter moving again.
Here's how it was explained by an unnamed Eurofighter test pilot to Cenciotti:
"If you are 'defensive' and your aircraft has Thrust Vectoring, you can possibly outturn your enemy, but that most likely won't prove to be a great idea: an energy fighter like the Typhoon will conveniently 'use the vertical' to retain energy and aggressively reposition for a missile or gun shot. Also the subsequent acceleration will be extremely time (and fuel) consuming, giving your opponent the opportunity to tail chase you forever, exploiting all its short range weapon array."
But even on the offensive, using TVC to quickly orient the nose of your fighter toward the enemy isn't always a good idea either. Because aggressive maneuvers strip the fighter of energy, you may score a kill against the opponent in front of you, but you're left vulnerable to any others nearby. This inherent issue with thrust vectoring combat tactics is really why no other American fighters are equipped with it, and in fact, Raptor pilots themselves will tell you that the real benefit of TVC in their aircraft is maintaining a degree of maneuverability while flying at a high angle of attack when control surfaces aren't as effective, rather than performing air show maneuvers in a dogfight.
At least two Eurofighters scored kills against F-22s… but there's more to this story
Bernd Wüstneck/picture a
