[MilCom] OT: U.S. F-22 stealth fighter pilot taunted Iranian F-4 Phantom combat planes over the Persian Gulf

[Roger Strohmeyer]

Earlier this year, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, said that an
IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-4 Phantom combat plane
attempted to intercept a U.S. MQ-1 drone flying in international airspace
off Iran.

As we reported back
then<http://theaviationist.com/2013/03/14/iranian-failed-interception/>,
one of the two F-4 Phantom jets came to about 16 miles from the UAV but
broke off pursuit after they were broadcast a warning message by two
American planes escorting the Predator.

The episode happened in March 2013, few months after a two Sukhoi Su-25
attack planes operated by the
Pasdaran<http://theaviationist.com/2012/11/12/iran-su25-photo/>(informal
name of the IRGC – the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic
Revolution) attempted to shoot down an American
MQ-1<http://theaviationist.com/2012/11/08/su-25-predator/>flying a
routine surveillance flight in international airspace some 16
miles off Iran, the interception of the unmanned
aircraft<http://theaviationist.com/2012/11/09/georgia-uav/>failed.
After this attempted interception the Pentagon decided to escort
the drones involved in ISR (intelligence surveillance reconnaissance)
missions with fighter jets (either F-18 Hornets with the CVW 9 embarked on
the USS John C. Stennis whose Carrier Strike Group is currently in the U.S.
5th Fleet area of responsibility or F-22 Raptors like those deployed to Al
Dhafra in the UAE <http://theaviationist.com/2013/01/25/coronet-raptors/>.

New details about the episode were recently
disclosed<http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/09/17/welsh-f22-flew-to-drones-rescue-off-iran-coast.html?ESRC=airforce-a.nl>by
Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh who on Sept. 17 not only confirmed that
the fighter jets providing HVAAE (High Value Air Asset Escort) were F-22
stealth fighters <http://theaviationist.com/2013/03/08/raptor-rf-ops/> but
also said that:

“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’”

If the episode went exactly as Welsh described it, it was something more
similar to Maverick’s close encounter with Russian Mig-28s in Top Gun
movie<http://theaviationist.com/2012/05/13/top-gun-day/>than a
standard interception.

It would be interesting to know how the Raptor managed to remain stealth
(did they use their radar? were they vectored by an AWACS? etc.) and why it
was not the E-2 most probably providing Airborne Early Warning in the area
to broadcast the message to persuade the F-4 to pursuit the drone before
the Iranian Phantoms and the U.S. Raptors got too close in a potentially
dangerous and tense situation?

Anyway the U.S. pilot achieved to scare the Iranian pilots off and save the
drone. A happy ending worthy of an action movie.

http://theaviationist.com/2013/09/19/f-22-f-4-intercept/#.UkS4iD_l5MP