Commanders of operational F-22 Raptor wings and leaders of the emerging F-35A Lightning II units met at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., to discuss joint training, maintenance, manpower, and strategies to help integrate the F-35s into the joint team. Col. Pete Fesler, 1st Fighter Wing commander, said the two aircraft have “incredible capability” and were designed to work together. Although the F-35As were designed primarily for the air-to-ground mission and the F-22 for the air-to-air fight, they will bring “complementary capabilities to assist each other in either role,” Fesler said in an Air Combat Command release. “Together they are a team that is optimized to go after an air threat and a surface threat simultaneously.” The F-22 community plans to share its decade of fifth-gen experience with the F-35As, which are expected to achieve initial operational capability in August. Maintenance was considered a key area for shared experience. The integration planning started 20 months ago when four F-22s deployed to Eglin AFB, Fla., to conduct introductory training missions with F-35s from the 33rd FW.
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
