Here’s What You Need to Remember: The F-22 Raptor demonstration team once marked Veteran’s Day with a breathtaking promotional video. 

Coming in at just under three minutes long, the video opens with a slick reel of Maj. Joshua “Cabo” Gunderson getting ready for take-off. The video sets a new standard for production value in the military hardware domain, capturing the F-22 in crisp detail and at numerous angles, all in silky-smooth slow motion. Gunderson enters a steep climb after taking off and can be seen performing additional maneuvers throughout the video. 

The promotion was shot at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. The clip is heavily edited and enhanced for dramatic effect, so it’s impossible to make out the full sequence of maneuvers. However, one thing is clear: from the impeccable 4K resolution to the gorgeous backdrop of the Chugach mountains, this is the best that the F-22 has ever looked on screen. Though the main focus is on the F-22 jet’s aerodynamic performance, we do catch some brief glimpses inside the cockpit and into the F-22 jet’s internal weapons bay. In what is undoubtedly a welcome addition, the team also published a 360 VR edition video aimed at giving the viewer the sensation of piloting an F-22 jet.

The F-22 jet is America’s leading fifth-generation stealth air superiority fighter, introduced in 2005 as a replacement to both the F-15 and F-16 Cold War-era aircraft. The F-22 jet brought not only superior raw performance but a raft of avionics updates, including a sensor fusion suite to promote situational awareness, powerful new radar and accompanying data processors, as well as a glass cockpit with digital controls. Although intended primarily for air-to-air roles, the F-22 jet can alternatively internally store two Joint Direct Attack Munitions or four GBU-39 guided bombs for secondary strike mission capability. The F-22 jet program ended prematurely in the late 2000s, with only 187 serial units instead of the scheduled 750, due to rampant costs and the then-lack of comparable peer competitors among U.S. rivals.

The F-22 jet demonstration team’s performance is yet another affirmation that the F-22 jet truly shines in an air show format, boasting thrust vectoring capabilities and a slew of other agility-informed design decisions that facilitate the impressive aerobatics we’ve seen from F-22 demo pilots over the years. The F-22 demo team is no stranger to viral outreach campaigns, having published a popular video offering a view inside the F-22 cockpit in the summer of 2019.

Mark Episkopos is a national security reporter for the National Interest. This first appeared earlier and is being reposted due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters.