Contingents of F-22s from Langley AFB, Va., and Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, will be heading to Japan and Guam, respectively, this month for four-month stints as part of a normal rotation of US forces in the Pacific region. Plans call for 12 Raptors from Langley’s 94th Fighter Squadron to deploy to Kadena AB, Japan, and another dozen from Elmendorf’s 525th FS to go to Andersen AFB, Guam, 13th Air Force said in a release May 11. More than 500 personnel will accompany these aircraft. These two deployments will be the fifth and sixth time that Raptors have supported US Pacific Command theater security packages in the Western Pacific since February 2007. They follow the mid-April departures of 12 F-22s belonging to Langley’s 27th FS from Kadena and 14 Raptors of Elmendorf’s 90th FS from Andersen after three-month stays.
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
