Air Force Pulls F-22 Jet From Super Bowl Flyover Due To “Operational Assignments”

This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.

There will be no F-22 Raptor jets flying over Levi’s Stadium ahead of Super Bowl 60 on Sunday. 

A close look at the flight suit patch for the big game includes Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers, F-15C Eagle fighters, Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets and F-35C Lightning fighters.

The F-22 is not among them, and it’s not by accident. 

According to Katie Spencer, the Sports Outreach Program manager for the Air Force, the jets have been pulled due to operational obligations. 

“We wanted 5th-generation aircraft from the Air Force and 5th-generation aircraft from the Navy,” Spencer told Military Times on Friday.“But as things happen in our military, you know, operational tempo has increased, and so the F-22s got pulled for some operational assignments.”

Spencer did not provide any details. But the F-22s were part of Operation Midnight Hammer in Iran last June.

F-22 Raptor Replacements For Super Bowl 60 Flyover Revealed 

According to Spencer, the Super Bowl flyover would be training for crew members and did not need additional taxpayer funding. 

“These flyovers serve as time-over-target training for our crews,” she explained.

“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.”

With the F-22s out, F-15s from the Fresno Air National Guard Base have been brought in late as replacements. 

“Our Guard members have stepped in to fill that role, and we’re super grateful for that,” Spencer said.