F-22 News
Lockheed Martin delivers F-22 Raptor to second operational
squadron
March 5, 2006 (by Jeff Hollenbeck) - The 94th Fighter Squadron,
famous for its historic "Hat in the Ring" insignia and legendary
aviator Eddy Rickenbacker, began receiving F-22 Raptors from
Lockheed Martin today.
The two 5th Generation stealthy, air dominance fighters are
assigned to the second operational squadron in the U.S. Air
Force.
The two Raptors will join F-22s flying today as part of the 1st
Fighter Wing's 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
Lockheed Martin has completed final assembly on 71 of the 107
fighters now on contract, and 63 have been delivered.
"This is another great milestone in the history of the F-22
Program," said Larry Lawson, Lockheed Martin Executive Vice
President and F-22 Program General Manager. "The F-22 will dominate
airspace anywhere around the globe, around the clock, and survive
in contested airspace better than any other aircraft in the
world."
"Today's deliveries speak to the continued success of the program,"
Lawson added, "which includes a key milestone we surpassed in
January by meeting our Congressional commitment to deliver 37 F-22
Raptors to the U.S. Air Force in an 18 month period."
The Air Force declared initial operational capability for the
Raptor in December, and it is already flying operational missions
in support of homeland defense. "We are proud to build such a
sophisticated, 5TH Generation stealth fighter that can do things
better than we ever imagined," Lawson said.
"Today is a great day in the history of the 94th Fighter Squadron,"
said Lt. Col. Dirk Smith, 94th FS Commander. "It's good to have
some of our own iron on the ramp."
The 94th FS legacy of being a frontline fighter unit spans from
World War I to operations in the Persian Gulf Region. This unit has
been a key player in the fight to gain and maintain air
superiority.
The F-22 dominates any adversary through unmatched performance
achieved through stealth, supercruise speed, agility, precision and
a complete view of the battlespace achieved with the advanced
sensor suite embedded in the aircraft. The Raptor will enable
combat commanders to change the way wars are fought over the next
40 years.
In addition to the active air force, pilots with the 192nd Virginia
Air National Guard in Richmond are also flying F-22 Raptors. The
F-22 Raptor is currently flying at three other bases across the
United States:
Testing is conducted at Edwards AFB, Calif.
Tactics development is ongoing at Nellis AFB, Nev.
A full squadron of Raptors is based at Tyndall AFB, Fla., for pilot
and maintainer training.
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