In today’s rapidly evolving air warfare arena, some moments encapsulate technology advantage more eloquently than any numbers ever could. One such moment occurred in 2013, far and above the Persian Gulf, when an Iranian F-4 Phantom aircraft encountered two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors.
What appeared at first to be a standard patrol soon evolved into a clinic on how stealth and forward systems can control the skies well ahead of weapons being fired.
It began with an MQ-1 Predator drone floating in international airspace, about 16 miles off the coast of Iran. To the Iranian pilots flying their F-4 Phantoms, the slow-moving, unarmed drone seemed like a sitting duck.
The Phantom had once been a marvel of 1960s aviation but had suffered the erosions of decades, even with improvements, and was now old and vulnerable to the latest planes. What the Iranian pilots did not know was that Lt. Col. Kevin “Showtime” Sutterfield was nearby, in an F-22 Raptor—completely undetectable to their radar.
The Raptor drifted in like a specter, gliding under the Phantoms until Sutterfield was near enough to read their cockpit details. Then, in a piece of movie history that seemed almost scripted, he edged up alongside the lead jet, reached for the radio, and spoke.
“You should really go home,” he said, smooth and controlled. Within a moment, the situation was transformed. Outgunned, the Iranian pilots had no other option but to retreat and head back home.
That brief conversation demonstrates precisely what makes the F-22 unique. It’s not merely a fighter—it’s a new generation of air superiority. Stealthed shaping, radar-absorbing materials, and a collection of sensors enable the Raptor to sneak up, select the moment to strike, and vanish into thin air.
Its supersonic-cruise-capable, thrust-vectoring engines, along with its capability to fly at supersonic speeds without afterburners, ensure that it is one of the fastest and most nimble planes in the air.
For the Iranian pilots, the experience was a grim reminder of their Phantom inventory’s shortcomings. Delivered years ago, these aircraft had been carefully kept up and cobbled together through ingenuity and resourcefulness over the years. No amount of retrofitting could, however, mask the fact that they were flying antiques from a time when stealth and networked avionics were yet to revolutionize air warfare.
This battle wasn’t merely a strange vignette—it reflected a greater truth. The Raptor’s edge wasn’t merely speed or firepower; it was the capability to dictate the battle from the beginning, to establish dominance in the mind of the enemy before any missile was fired. That mental superiority is as formidable as any weaponry on the vessel.
For today’s military strategists, the moral is simple: the biggest strength can often be to shape the battle before the enemy realizes they’re in one at all. That day over the Gulf, the Raptor’s matter-of-fact, almost playful warning was a lesson in contemporary warfare: often, the most decisive blow is the one that never must be struck.
