It turns out that the press reports from early October were correct. The F-22 will indeed be making its debut appearance in the Middle East next month by performing in the Dubai Air Show in the United Arab Emirates. In a release Thursday, Air Forces Central said the F-22 is “scheduled to perform an aerial demonstration” at the show, which runs Nov. 15-19. Normally the F-22 demonstration team, based at Langley AFB, Va., sends two Raptors to an air show and each performs over the course of the show, 1st Fighter Wing spokeswoman 1st Lt. Georganne Schultz told the Daily Report Thursday. AFCENT said a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet is also scheduled to perform at Dubai, and there will be static displays of a C-130, E-3 AWACS, F-15, MQ-1 Predator, Navy E-2C and F/A-18E/F, and an Army Shadow remotely piloted vehicle.
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
