DoD keeps Raptors out of Persian Gulf

Air Force plans to deploy F-22s to the Persian Gulf region earlier this year were vetoed by senior Pentagon officials, in part to avoid antagonizing Iran, sources said.

The officials believed deploying the Raptor so near Iran would cause a “strategic dislocation” in the region, sources said.

The debate was one of a series of feuds between the Pentagon and service leaders that included the future of the F-22 program and ended with the dismissal of Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley.

The two men were sacked June 5 after a report blasted the Air Force for its stewardship of the service’s nuclear arsenal.

The Air Force leaders wanted to deploy the new superfighter to gain operational experience and refine concepts of operations for the jet.

Since the plane entered service three years ago, it has served as an airborne early warning, ground surveillance and strike platform.

But it would have done even more in a gulf deployment, some say. ...