Lockheed Martin rolled out the first F-22A stealth fighter destined for Pacific Air Forces on Monday. Raptor #4087 will go to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, which expects to field its first squadron of 18 by January 2008. Attending a small rollout ceremony at Lockheed’s Marietta, Ga., production facility, Brig. Gen. Carlisle, commander of Elmendorf’s 3rd Wing, took note of the “great Americans” in uniform or blue jeans who build the F-22.
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.