The Cold War Returns to the Skies Above the Pacific
A stealthy U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin / Boeing F-22A Raptor fighter out of Elmendorf Air Force Base intercepts an extremely unstealthy Russian Tu-95 Bear bomber near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on Thanksgiving Day, 2007. (This photo was not released at that time.)
Under the serious moonlight, click to expand:
The pricey Raptor program ($138 million each) had a few teething problems last year. One of which was a computer failure affecting multiple aircraft brought about by merely flying over the International Date Line.
At the international date line, whoops, all systems dumped and when I say all systems, I mean all systems, their navigation, part of their communications, their fuel systems. They were—they could have been in real trouble.
Them computers.
Tags: 2007, Advanced Tactical Fighter, air force, alaska, atf, bear, boeing, bomber, f-22, f-22a, f/a-22, f22, fighter, Integrated Defense Systems, international date line, Lockheed Martin, raptor, tu-20, tu-95, U.S., United States