The F
-22 Raptor Team has been selected as the recipient of the National Aeronautic Association’s 2006 Collier Trophy, the most prestigious award in aviation. Although the F-22 has long been in development and its capabilities well known, its performance in last summer’s Northern Edge exercise in Alaska, where it led Blue forces to a 241-0 kill ratio, made 2006 the year in which the Raptor’s promises came true. The trophy resides in the National Air & Space Museum in Washington; annual winners get a smaller duplicate.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.