An article in Wednesday’s Dallas Morning News has rehashed the debate over the number and cost of the Air Force’s F-22A Raptor, calling out critics who bemoan variously the high price, low numbers, and supposed technical problems. Buried in the article are quotes from the airmen who maintain and fly the Raptor. They are worth reading. A maintainer says of two temporarily broken F-22s one morning, “All airplanes break. It’s actually a lot more durable than some aircraft I’ve worked on.” And, the fixes were easy. As to whether the few F-22s can take on a superior number of aircraft, an F-22 pilot says that with eight missiles on his Raptor, he can handle eight other fighters. That is high praise from the guys who should know.
U.S. Northern Command and multiple research organizations just wrapped up a joint, three-year experiment to test new radar technology that could enable the Northern Warning System to detect incoming threats at longer ranges across Alaska and northern Canada.