The Air Force’s final F-22 Raptor—tail No. 4195—conducts its first test flight in Marietta, Ga., flown by company test pilot Bret Luedke. No. 4195 is the last of 187 production F-22s. Lockheed delivered 4195 to USAF on May 2, 2012.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.