Two F-22 Raptor stealth jets originally slated for the Super Bowl LX flyover were removed due to “operational assignments,” the Air Force announced Friday.
Katie Spencer, who helped organise the Department of the Air Force’s sports outreach programmes and coordinated the flyover formation, said the F-22s were part of the original concept but were reassigned as operational demands increased, Independent reported.
“We wanted fifth-generation aircraft from the Air Force and fifth-generation aircraft from the Navy,” Spencer said in a Friday interview with The Military Times. “But as things happen in our military, operational tempo has increased, and so the F-22s got pulled for some operational assignments.”
Iranian aircraft failed to intercept the US military, and Iran’s air-defence systems failed to spot the stealth aircraft involved in the mission. In the lead-up to the operation, roughly 10 F-22s, along with other US fighters such as F-35s and F-16s, were deployed to the Middle East to support the strike and provide air dominance if needed, according to The National Interest.
More recently, in January and early February, a mix of US aircraft conducted strikes on ISIS targets in Syria during an operation known as Hawkeye Strike.
Even for the aircraft approved to take part in the Super Bowl flyover, Spencer said the event served a practical military purpose beyond ceremony. As defence officials said in previous years, flyovers doubled as training exercises and did not require additional taxpayer funding.
“These flyovers serve as time-over-target training for our crews,” Spencer said. “They serve as recovery efforts with our maintainers. And so the reason that we are so proficient at operations like Midnight Hammer and other things that you’ll see is because we can replicate those real-world scenarios with this type of flying.”
The revised flyover for Super Bowl LX will feature aircraft representing 250 years of American airpower. Scheduled to pass over the stadium are two Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, two Air National Guard F-15C Eagles, a pair of Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets and two F-35C Lightning II fighters from Naval Air Station Lemoore in California.
“Our Guard members have stepped in to fill that role, and we’re super grateful for that,” Spencer said.
The Super Bowl LX kickoff is set for Sunday at 6:30 p.m. EST.
