T
he National Museum of the US Air Force has put the service’s new stealth fighter, the F-22A Raptor, on display at its facility in Dayton, Ohio. The display aircraft, SN 91-4003, was one of nine engineering, manufacturing, and developing test aircraft and was the first to launch an AIM-120 missile at supersonic speeds. The museum’s restoration team prepared the aircraft for display, painting it to represent an aircraft flown by the first Raptor unit, the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va. Unlike many aviation museums, says director retired Maj. Gen. Charles Metcalf, the USAF museum “not only strives to tell the Air Force stories of the past, but those of the present and future as well.” (Museum report by Rob Bardua)
Pentagon Task Force, FAA to Test Counter-Drone Laser
March 7, 2026
The Pentagon’s counter-drone task force announced it would conduct a high-energy laser test with the Federal Aviation Administration less than a month after the use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border prompted the FAA to shut down the airspace over El Paso, Texas.