According to a 13th Air Force spokesman in Hawaii, the contingent of F-22A Raptors flying from Hickam AFB, Hawaii, to Kadena AB, Japan, over the weekend returned to Hickam because “multiple aircraft” experienced a software problem involving the navigation system. The spokesman told the Daily Report that the F-22s should be back on their way to Okinawa soon. The Raptors are making their first overseas deployment, forming part of the now-routine rotation of aircraft deployed to bolster the Pacific Region’s strike force.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.