On the 29th, Keen Sentinel, a social media channel that delivers military news, published the Fighters Journal, a periodical published by the 5th Fighter Wing of the Philippines, and reported that the FA-50PH of the Philippine Air Force succeeded in shooting down the U.S. F-22 stealth fighter in a dogfight during the 2023 Cope Thunder exercise
The Cope Thunder exercise, which has been held since 1976, is a multinational joint tactical air combat exercise organized by the U.S. Pacific Command
The Philippine Air Force also published an augmented reality screen HUD that displays related information on the windshield of the aircraft, saying that the FA-50 attack aircraft introduced by its military has made an unprecedented achievement in history in catching the fifth-generation fighter jet F-22
Ryu Seong-yeop, a researcher at the 21st Century Military Research Institute, said, “The area where F-22 can have the most strength corresponds to intermediate-range combat,” adding, “If FA-50 and F-22 enter the WVR environment called dog fighting and train, there could be areas where the gap in capabilities narrows.”
“In a situation where the overall performance of the aircraft has improved, it ends immediately when someone makes a mistake when engaging in a war in a WVR environment,” he said, adding that the F-22 has the current good output engine so that the BVR, which has the biggest strength, can only fight and get out of the area outside the range
A Korean netizen asked if it was possible for an elementary school student to win against a college student, and another netizen compared it to the movie Top Gun, asking if the Philippine pilot was Tom Cruise
The F-22 Raptor seems to have come from this reaction because it has a powerful engine power and is capable of unrealistic maneuvers to the point where there is a joke that it was made by torturing aliens
On the other hand, many experts say that shooting down in training does not mean much
Tyler Rogoway, a U.S. aviation expert who posts an article in the U.S. military media The Warzone, commented on the post, “What would be the value of training if the F-22 beat its training partner without mercy?” adding, “The role was to start from a defensive position and fly without using any specific weapons or tactics.”
Another XX and old Twitter user said in a comment, “I’m a father who helped a 3-year-old win a checker game,” and undervalued it as a training that I started after simply looking at it
Source DAUM News1