From Air Force Times

 

Service may buy more Raptors

By Gayle S. Putrich - Staff writer

Posted : Tuesday Feb 13, 2007 6:31:11 EST

 

MARIETTA, Ga. — As Lockheed Martin officials handed over the ceremonial keys to the Air Force Pacific Command’s first F-22 Raptor, the service’s No. 2 official said the Air Force is looking at funding plans for buying more than the planned 183 stealth fighters.

 

The 2007 budget contains multi-year funding for the last 60 planned Raptors, including construction funds for 2007 and advance procurement money through 2009. The president’s 2008 budget proposal includes $281.9 million for the F-22 program.

 

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John Corley said Feb. 12 that the 2009 budget must contain more advanced procurement funding if Raptor production is to continue beyond 2009.

 

“The Air Force is examining exactly that at the present time,” Corley said.

 

As recently as last week’s Air Force Association conference in Florida, senior Air Force officials said numerous Pentagon studies show that the service will need more than the 183 Raptors to complete future missions, but would not commit to a final number. Corley said 381 planes remains the stated requirement.

 

The key ceremony concerned a plane that will eventually head to the 90th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.

 

An actual mounted key to the Raptor, marked AK-4087 and on display in the hangar, was passed Feb. 12 from Larry Lawson, Lockheed executive vice president and F-22 program manager, to Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Paul Hester, and then down the chain of command to Staff Sgt. Scotty Andrews, 3rd Wing dedicated crew chief.

 

For now, the AK-tailed planes are headed for Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, where F-22 simulators are located and where members of the 90th will get to know the planes alongside members of the 302nd reserve fighter squadron. The Air Force Reserve recently stood up its 302nd Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf, as an associate squadron with the 3rd Wing.

 

“It’s all one Air Force,” said Reserve chief Lt. Gen. John Bradley. “Our Air Force Reserve wants to be your unrivaled wingman, Gen. Hester.”

 

The first eight to 10 planes will be in Alaska by Aug. 8, with the first full squadron bedded down there before the end of the calendar year, according to Air Force officials, and all 36 planes are expected to be at Elmendorf by mid-2008.

 

A few days before the key presentation, Lockheed’s Raptor team was awarded the National Aeronautic Association’s 2006 Robert J. Collier Trophy, considered America’s most prestigious award for aeronautical and space development.

 

Nomination documents highlighted the Raptor’s impressive performance at the 2006 Northern Edge joint force-on-force exercise in Alaska, where the F-22 flew 102 of 105 scheduled sorties with 108 kills and one accidental hit.

 

“The Collier Award is not only a tremendous honor for the entire F-22 team, but also a wonderful tribute to the visionaries who conceived the Raptor and the war fighters who fly and support this revolutionary aircraft every day,” said Larry Lawson, executive vice president and F-22 program manager. “What airmen did in Alaska last year is only a sign of great things to come in 2007 and beyond.”

Meanwhile ...

 

From Air Force Times

 

Software error delays F-22s’ Japan trip

Kyodo News Service

Posted : Tuesday Feb 13, 2007 6:44:17 EST

 

NAHA, Japan — The arrival of the newest U.S. stealth fighter, the F-22A Raptor, in Okinawa for temporary deployment at the Kadena Air Base will likely be delayed due to a problem with the navigation system software, the Air Force said Tuesday.

 

The fighters were initially scheduled to arrive in Kadena on Saturday, but their arrival was delayed to Sunday due to bad weather. They then took off from Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii on Sunday but returned midway.

 

It is still unknown how long the arrival will be delayed. But the Air Force said its ground mechanics are working to fix the problem and that the deployment will be implemented as planned.

 

Under the plan, 12 Raptors from Langley Air Force Base, Va., will be stationed in Kadena for 90 to 120 days, the first time the newest stealth fighter will be fielded on a base outside the U.S. The deployment will involve 260 personnel, including about 20 pilots.

 

Their activities will include drills with Air Force units at Misawa Air Base and in South Korea.

 

The F-22A Raptor was developed as a successor to the F-15 fighter. It went into service in December 2005.