Hecker and fellow Raptor pilots—on the first day many of them had ever launched weapons from an F/A-22 for an air-to-ground sortie—not only hit their targets, they “shacked” them, said weapons systems evaluators at Hill AFB, Utah. The term means the bomb struck the target dead center—a bull’s eye. “What we saw today was an outstanding display of training and technology,” said Col. Doug Reed, commander of the 388th Range Squadron at Hill.
The Air Force and Navy have briefed President Donald Trump on their respective Next-Generation Air Dominance programs, asking that the projects proceed largely as they now stand, government and industry sources told Air & Space Forces Magazine. It’s not clear whether the services came away with firm decisions about the…