The Virginia Air National Guard’s 192nd Fighter Wing received its official activation at Langley AFB, Va., last week, formally marking the shift of the unit from its F-16 days at Richmond Airport in Sandston, Va. The Air Guard wing now operates as a classic associate unit, flying and maintaining F-22As with the active duty 1st Fighter Wing. In fact, SrA. Meaghan McNeil reports that the 192nd FW Air Guardsmen have been participating with their counterparts in the 1st FW on “every Raptor deployment since May 2005. The Air Guardsmen flew their last F-16 Viper flights in June.
More than 100 B-21s will be needed if the nation is to avoid creating a high demand/low capacity capability, panelists said on a Hudson Institute webinar. The B-21's flexibility, stealth, range and payload will be in high demand for a wide range of missions, both traditional and new.