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F-22 Makes First Air-to-Air Strike in Chinese Balloon Takedown

  • F-22 fighter jet made combat debut in 2015, hit ISIS targets
  • Pentagon spent $67 billion to buy 187 of the supersonic jets
A fighter jet shoots down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Carolina coast on Feb. 4.

A fighter jet shoots down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Carolina coast on Feb. 4.

Photographer: Chad Fish/AP Photo

Updated on

The downing of China’s alleged spy balloon marked the first time the F-22 Raptor fighter jet brought down an airborne target since it debuted in combat in Syria and Iraq almost a decade ago, defense analysts said.

“Shooting down China’s balloon was indeed the F-22’s first air-to-air kill,” Rebecca Grant, an Air Force systems specialist and president of IRIS Independent Research, said by email in response to questions. “Americans watched an unfriendly aircraft get shot down over our skies.”