Tyndall AFB a "complete loss" amid questions about F-22s

icemaverick · by **icemaverick** » 13 Oct 2018, 00:42

Here's an article from the NY Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/us/a ... amage.html

Here's another one from Business Insider:
https://www.businessinsider.com/hurrica ... m=webfeeds

Here are some pics of the devastation:
https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&ver ... 2&src=typd

Hopefully the Raptors that were left behind have not been severely damaged, if at all. But it does appear that the base was absolutely devastated. I'm sure that in the coming days we will find out more information. A number of other aircraft types were obviously damaged but so far as I know, the Air Force has not yet commented on the F-22s.

None of the pics I have seen so far show damaged F-22s but there is one picture of a badly damaged hangar and the tail fins of an F-22 are clearly visible.

hoghandler · by **hoghandler** » 13 Oct 2018, 01:00

I saw footage showing a hanger with a few QF-16s inside. They didnt look like they suffered much damage. We'll eventually find out more when the base is cleaned up.

durahawk · by **durahawk** » 13 Oct 2018, 03:23

Wow. I suspect they will need to relocate the flying squadrons for several years. Rebuilding hangars and back shops will take Billions. In the Air Force, getting a hangar fire suppression certified takes an eternity.

Eglin seems most likely given that they share the same the same airspace to begin with and there is probably room to support at least one squadron given VMFAT-501's re-location to Beaufort. Otis ANGB in MA I would think would be another good candidate given that it is still an actively maintained base with recently used fighter support infrastructure but without an active flying mission besides the Coast Guard.

Homestead bounced back after Andrew, maybe Tyndall can too. Not really fiscally reasonable of the government maybe, but it would absolutely wreck an already devastated community if the base wasn't rebuilt. I suspect the QF's will stay at a minimum since there aren't too many places in the country where you can do live fire Air to Air missile shots.

wrightwing · by **wrightwing** » 13 Oct 2018, 05:18

That's potentially very bad news about the F-22s, in the hangers.

zero-one · by **zero-one** » 13 Oct 2018, 08:34

Don't they have those Hardened bomb shelters anymore?
I guess theres not enough for all the assets but hopefully they can store their most prized aircraft there like F-22's.

Anyway, whats the maximum number of Raptors that the USAF can realistically deploy right now in an emergency?
do we have info on that?

tailgate · by **tailgate** » 13 Oct 2018, 16:19

Sad news indeed. Reminds me of Homestead after Andrew. Word on the street is Elgin or Moody until things are sorted out concerning Tyndall’s fate. My guess would be a Moody as Elgin already has a full plate. We will see

Tailgate

wrightwing · by **wrightwing** » 13 Oct 2018, 17:58

One source said at least 12 Raptors had been left behind, with a number damaged, and some total write offs. If there's a silver lining, it would seem that these are Block 20 jets, and not combat coded jets.

xtalonlm · by **xtalonlm** » 13 Oct 2018, 19:22

What possible reasoning could there have been to leave the aircraft there to shelter in place? I'm dumbfounded.

sferrin · by **sferrin** » 13 Oct 2018, 19:36

wrightwing wrote:One source said at least 12 Raptors had been left behind, with a number damaged, and some total write offs. If there's a silver lining, it would seem that these are Block 20 jets, and not combat coded jets.

Good thing we bought so few. :bang:

wrightwing · by **wrightwing** » 13 Oct 2018, 19:49

xtalonlm wrote:What possible reasoning could there have been to leave the aircraft there to shelter in place? I'm dumbfounded.

They were unflyable due to maintenance or safety related issues.

hythelday · by **hythelday** » 13 Oct 2018, 21:01

wrightwing wrote:
xtalonlm wrote:What possible reasoning could there have been to leave the aircraft there to shelter in place? I'm dumbfounded.

They were unflyable due to maintenance or safety related issues.

Put them on the goddamned flatbed.

If any of the Raptors were damaged indeed, this must be the dumbest way to waste a Raptor.

hoghandler · by **hoghandler** » 13 Oct 2018, 21:56

hythelday wrote:
wrightwing wrote:
xtalonlm wrote:What possible reasoning could there have been to leave the aircraft there to shelter in place? I'm dumbfounded.

They were unflyable due to maintenance or safety related issues.

Put them on the goddamned flatbed.

If any of the Raptors were damaged indeed, this must be the dumbest way to waste a Raptor.

Unfortunantly from the time the storm formed and made land fall they would have only gotten a few screws pulled for dissasembly. The time and effort to even do such a thing is impossible. Better to put them in a hanger and hope for the best.

wrightwing · by **wrightwing** » 13 Oct 2018, 21:59

There were no good options. The hanger was the least worst option available.

hoghandler · by **hoghandler** » 13 Oct 2018, 22:07

The few pics i seen of the QF-16s from the news shows them to be in decent shape with little damage done. So there is some hope that any raptors left behind made it out ok. Only after clean up has really begun can the damage be fully known. We will find out soon enough.

sferrin · by **sferrin** » 13 Oct 2018, 22:29

wrightwing wrote:There were no good options. The hanger was the least worst option available.

Why not fly them out?