I like the understated use of "well within visual range."



The Air Force, through Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh, has publicized an account (perhaps the first) involving the engagement of an F-22 Raptor and Iranian F-4s flying within 16 miles of an MQ-1 Predator drone as the UAV flew over international waters off the coast of Iran. Welsh delivered the account Tuesday, saying the event took place in March. According to Welsh, Air Force Reservist Lt. Col. Kevin "Showtime" Sutterfield closed on the F-4s while flying an the Raptor. Per the account, Sutterfield flew the jet to well within visual range, unnoticed. He slipped the fighter under the wings of one of the Iranian jets "to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there." And then, according to Welsh, Sutterfield "pulled up on their left wing" and "called them and said 'you really ought to go home.'"

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/General-Bold-Account-Of-US-F-22-Iranian-F-4-Engagement220604-1.html