Summary and Key Points: Brent M. Eastwood revisits Red Flag Alaska 2012, where the Luftwaffe’s eight Eurofighter Typhoons, flying without external tanks or weapons, scored within-visual-range notional kills on F-22 Raptors carrying external fuel tanks, earning Raptor decals and the “Raptor salad for lunch” boast. Citing Alex Hollings of Sandboxx News and F-22 pilot Randy Gordon’s MIT lecture, he credits the Raptor’s thrust vectoring, sensor fusion and Mach 2.25 speed, blames Air Force tactics, and calls the F-22 superior.
The F-22 Raptor from the US Air Force Made Some Not-So-Good Aviation History
You are likely used to reading about the F-22 Raptor’s effectiveness.
This is one of the most stealthy airplanes in the world. It has strong aerial combat capabilities. Its onboard weapons are effective for both dogfighting and ground-strike missions.
The Air Force has flown it for years and worked out the kinks. It has also been significantly updated to extend its service life.
Sometimes the F-22 flies against allies to rehearse maneuvers and see whether its radar-evasion capability still leads the world.
These combat exercises can provide insights into the Raptor’s effectiveness in multinational drills.
F-22 Gets Eaten for Lunch
That’s why observers turned their heads when the F-22 went up against German Eurofighter Typhoons. The Luftwaffe prevailed over the Americans. The Germans claimed that the notional kills proved that they had “Raptor salad for lunch.”
The pilots from Deutschland even affixed Raptor decals to the fuselage of their Typhoons to commemorate the aerial victories.
Maybe It Is Time to Replace the Raptor
What is next for the Raptor?
F-22 Raptor at the National Museum of the US Air Force. 19FortyFive Photo Shoot.
F-22 Raptor at the National Museum of the US Air Force. 19FortyFive Photo Shoot.
Does this difficulty against an ally prove that the F-22 has ample weak points that signify it should be replaced by the new F-47 NGAD sixth-generation fighter? That may be an overly critical assessment based on a single aerial exercise.
The German pilots may have just been more effective than their American brethren during two weeks of maneuvers.
Dogfighting often comes down to which aviator wants it more and who can prove aerial prowess at the controls. We may be sounding the Raptor alarm too loudly.
German-American Matchup in 2012
To investigate this further, we must turn back to 2012.
The Germans and their Eurofighters were invited to participate in the Red Flag aerial exercises over Alaska. The Luftwaffe sent eight Typhoons and 150 personnel for the drills.
They would conduct maneuvers for two weeks across a variety of missions.
These operations were called Basic Fighter Maneuvers, but the pilots knew better.
This meant dogfighting and extensive dogfighting. In some exercises, German aviators flying Eurofighters within visual range could spot and “kill” Raptors carrying external fuel tanks, which may have reduced their stealth.
The Great Aspects of the F-22
While the F-22 is a fifth-generation airplane, the Raptor has one similarity with the Eurofighter Typhoon as Alex Hollings mentions in Sandboxx News.
They both entered service in the early to mid-2000s. But the Raptor was superior in stealth.
This platform could also be updated over many years, giving the F-22 long-term viability and resulting in a warbird that could evolve with the times.
The sensor fusion and avionics are excellent, and the pilots have a high level of situational awareness. “When you’re flying the Raptor, you’re not thinking about flying the Raptor,” explained F-22 pilot Randy Gordon in a lecture he gave at MIT, “You’re thinking about employing the Raptor. Flying is secondary,” Hollings noted.
The F-22 is highly maneuverable due to its thrust vector control.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Nick “Laz” Le Tourneau, pilot and commander of the F-22 Raptor Aerial Demonstration Team, performs an aerial demonstration for the Chicago Air and Water Show in Chicago, Illinois, August 16, 2026. Le Tourneau showcased the aircraft’s performance capabilities through a series of planned maneuvers designed to highlight its speed, agility and operational employment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mary Bowers)
That’s what makes it a great dogfighter.
This vector thrust should have given the Raptor the means to win the notional fight against the German Typhoons.
“As a result, the F-22 bridges two combat philosophies offering such a high degree of stealth and situational awareness that it can win most fights before the opponent even knows that it’s there, alongside a highly respectable slew of traditional dogfighting traits that allow it to stand and swing with the most dynamic hotrod dogfighters of the previous generation,” Hollings wrote.
Don’t Dismiss the Eurofighter Typhoon
However, the Eurofighter Typhoon has some tricks up its sleeve.
The warbird has some stealth attributes for a fourth-generation fighter.
It absorbs radar waves more effectively than its competitors. The range is top-notch, as is the maneuverability.
The airframe’s strength enables it to handle diverse mission sets and makes it a capable dogfighter, supported by excellent electronic warfare capabilities and high-G maneuvers.
The Typhoon is a bit slower than the F-22’s MACH 2.25.
The Eurofighter reaches MACH 2 on its best days. However, the European aircraft has a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, which gives it an advantage in combat.
Let’s Not Overreact
Let’s not read too much into the head-to-head matchup during Red Flag 2012.
The Raptor pilots, flying within visual range, probably spotted the Eurofighter first but, for some reason, did not engage its Sidewinders.
The American pilots made a fateful mistake, but that doesn’t mean the F-22 has any problems. This was primarily due to poor tactics by Air Force pilots.
So give the Germans some credit. They were, however, flying without external weapons or fuel tanks.
This improved their radar evasion and gave them a combat advantage. Chalk this up to a little bit of flukiness. The F-22 is still a superior aircraft in my view.
The Germans were having a good day, and the Americans were not.
However, the Air Force will study this lesson closely to ensure a fourth-generation aircraft doesn’t get so lucky again.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Author of now over 3,000 articles on defense issues, Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for US Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former US Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.