Testing the Whole Shebang

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

The F/A-22 Raptor on Aug. 29 demonstrated its air-to-ground capability, launching two Joint Direct Attack Munitions on the Utah Test and Training Range—the culminating slice of a mission scenario, not the whole pie. It was the first of a series of follow-on operational test and evaluation missions that will run through late fall, according to officials with the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, Nellis AFB, Nev. Each mission may include numerous sorties, all flown in “operationally realistic” scenarios with adversaries, aerial refueling, and ground control intercept, as well as the full maintenance effort needed to produce each sortie.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org