Details of how the United States Air Force (USAF) and the United States Space Force (USSF) experienced the new “routine” of air and missile defense shaped by the Iranian missile attacks on Israel in April and October 2024 were recently published.
The data are contained in three articles published in the January-February 2025 issue of the bimonthly magazine “Air & Space Forces,” published by the Air & Space Forces Association. The articles describe the operational actions of the supersonic, low-observability (stealth) F-22 Raptor air dominance fighters, the crown jewel of the US Air Force fighter fleet, the F-15E Strike Eagle multi-role fighters, and units of the US Space Force in countering Iranian attacks.
According to open sources, the USAF has 195 F-22 Raptor fighters (eight of which are test aircraft) and 218 F-15E Strike Eagle fighters in service. The first article describes the operational experiences of the 90th Fighter Squadron, which in early August 2024 deployed 12 F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, immediately after the Israeli attack on Tehran, which resulted in the death of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, and while Iran threatened retaliation.
Among other things, the squadron’s mission included countering anti-aircraft missiles and cruise missiles. As was found due to the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar with which the F-22 is equipped, like the familiar F-16 Viper, Rafale and the under-procurement F-35A Lightning II, the detection of UAWs proved easier compared to conventional radars, but not without difficulties due to their small size and low speed.
According to the squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel (I) Dustin Johnson, it was “an aerial battle but of a different type than the one we had previously trained” and with significant problems in identifying both cruise missiles and UAWs. It should be noted that the squadron utilized lessons learned contained in a work by Master Sergeant (I) Benjamin Coffey who belonged to the 494th Fighter Squadron with F-15E Strike Eagles.
After analyzing the visual footage of IED engagements by all his colleagues in the squadron, Master Chief (I) Coffey wrote the paper as a memorandum of actions required to shoot down an IED once it was detected. The great value of the memorandum was quickly realized by the leadership of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), which ensured its distribution to all fighter squadrons deployed in the Middle East.
In this way, the lessons learned were widely known to the crews and helped to perfect the tactics to deal with this specific threat. According to the article, due to the reputation of the F-22 Raptor and the success of American and other allied fighters in intercepting MEAs during the April 2024 attack, the second Iranian attack, in October 2024, exclusively ballistic missiles were used.
The Problem
Also in the article, Lieutenant Colonel (I) Johnson expresses his certainty that all the preparations of the F-22 crews to deal with the threat of Iranian MEAs are 100% applicable to other operational scenarios and that in the event of a global conflict between superpowers, dealing with MEAs “is 100% certain to be part of the problem that will have to be addressed.”
Unlike the F-22 Raptors of the 90th Fighter Squadron that were deployed to the Middle East, approximately four months after the Iranian attack, the F-15E Strike Eagles of the 494th Fighter Squadron took off on the night of April 13, 2024 to intercept the Iranian attack. Among them was the F-15E fighter jet, with Captain (I) Coffey as the pilot and Weapons Officer Captain (I) Lacey Hester as the weapons systems officer.
In the initial scan, the radar detected 20 to 30 targets and in order to eliminate the possibility that these were returns from ground targets such as cars moving on the road, Captain (I) Hester used the fighter jet’s targeting pod for visual confirmation, which however came back negative. “These were real targets heading west (towards Israel)” is the statement attributed to Captain (I) Coffey in the article.
The scale of the Iranian attack based on the testimonies of airmen contained in the article was unprecedented. Very soon, the code word “Winchester” was heard on the communications networks, which meant that the fighter had exhausted all air-to-air missiles, including the cannon cartridges and the air-to-ground weapons, which were the last option that could be used to attack the IEDs.
Within about 20 minutes, most of the American fighters had used up all eight air-to-air missiles with which they were equipped and then attempted to attack the Iranian IEDs with their 20 mm. cannon, but with limited results.
“The Nature of War Has Changed”
On the night of April 13, 2024, American F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-15E Strike Eagle fighters shot down a total of 80 Iranian MEAs. Wing Commander (I) James Hecker, who has been the commander of US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) since June 2022, called it a clear indication that “the nature of war has changed, especially when it comes to one-way [suicide] MEAs.”
According to the third article, the unprecedented in terms of volume, scope, and time constraints, Iranian attacks on US Space Force personnel in April and October 2024 proved equally revealing about the development of events. “We no longer view missile defense as engaging a single missile, but must be prepared to provide tracking and warning of multiple missiles fired simultaneously,” said Rear Admiral Douglas A. Schisch, Space Commander of the U.S. Space Force, which hosts the article.
