Airmen 
at Holloman AFB, N.M., held an inactivation ceremony for the 8th Fighter Squadron. The “Black Sheep” are standing down after less than two years of operating F-22s due to the Air Force’s Raptor fleet consolidation plan, which calls for Holloman to lose its two squadrons’ worth of F-22s and take on two F-16 squadrons for training. “We flew 2,500 sorties and over 3,000 hours. That’s more than 10 sorties a day, with less than nine F-22s,” said Lt. Col. Craig Baker, 8th FS commander, in highlighting his unit’s accomplishments during the inactivation ceremony. The inactivation takes effect on July 15. Some of the 8th FS’ F-22s are going, for the time being, to Holloman’s 7th FS, while others will bolster the ranks of F-22 units at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; JB Langley-Eustis, Va.; and Nellis AFB, Nev. The 7th FS’ F-22s will eventually shift to Tyndall AFB, Fla. This is the second time in the 8th FS’ 61-year-history that the unit will go on inactive status. The first time was in April 2008 following the retirement of the F-117 Nighthawk. The Black Sheep have flown 15 different aircraft throughout their history. (Holloman release by A1C Siuta B. Ika)
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
