Gen. Paul Hester, commander of Pacific Air Forces, plans to take possession next month of PACAF’s first F-22A Raptor. He told attendees at AFA’s Orlando symposium that he is going to Marietta, Ga., to pick up the first Elmendorf AFB, Alaska-bound F-22. The Air Force has now fully equipped the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va., with Raptors, so the service’s top fighter will begin bedding down in the Pacific, starting in Alaska and then in Hawaii.
The new defense reconciliation bill includes $7.2 billion for Air Force and Navy aviation accounts, almost half of which will buy more F-15EXs. While electronic warfare, drones, connectivity and airlift all get attention, the F-35 was conspicuously absent from the package, with no explanation given.