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.
U.S. munitions have been expended at a high rate during Operation Epic Fury against Iran, prompting concerns that the Pentagon is eating into weapons stockpiles it needs to deter threats around the world. Yet the newly released $1.5 billion defense budget request was developed before the war against Iran and…