New Air Force Toys

Danger Room had a few interesting articles, How to Defeat the Air Force's Powerful Stealth Fighter.

"In mid-June, 150 German airmen and eight twin-engine, non-stealthy Typhoons arrived at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska for an American-led Red Flag exercise involving more than 100 aircraft from Germany, the U.S. Air Force and Army, NATO, Japan, Australia and Poland. Eight times during the two-week war game, individual German Typhoons flew against single F-22s in basic fighter maneuvers meant to simulate a close-range dogfight.

The results were a surprise to the Germans and presumably the Americans, too. ‘We were evenly matched,’ Maj. Marc Gruene told Combat Aircraft’s Jamie Hunter. The key, Gruene said, is to get as close as possible to the F-22 … and stay there. ‘They didn’t expect us to turn so aggressively.’

Gruene said the Raptor excels at fighting from beyond visual range with its high speed and altitude, sophisticated radar and long-range AMRAAM missiles. But in a slower, close-range tangle — which pilots call a ‘merge’ — the bigger and heavier F-22 is at a disadvantage. ‘As soon as you get to the merge … the Typhoon doesn’t necessarily have to fear the F-22,’ Gruene said."

Also, Killer-Drone Showdown Set as Lockheed Unveils Jet-Powered 'Bot.

"Sometime in the next few years the world’s most sophisticated drone prototypes will likely face off in what could be a multi-billion-dollar competition to shape the future of air warfare. And now we finally know what all four contestants look like.

On Friday, number-one defense contractor Lockheed Martin released the first official teaser image of its Sea Ghost jet-powered killer drone. Along with previously disclosed unmanned aerial vehicle designs from rivals Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Atomics, the Sea Ghost will go head-to-head for a Navy contract to put fast, stealthy, missile- and bomb-armed drones on the decks of aircraft carriers by 2018."

Here are some pics and info about Northrop's entry, the X-47B.

So my first thought for the F-22 issue was when will there be Babylon-5 ftyle small drones flying around it to handle fighters that get to close?