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First F/A-22 Raptor delivered for the U.S. Air Force's Air Warfare Center
January 7, 2003 (by
Jeff Hollenbeck) -
The F/A-22 Raptor air dominance fighter team has delivered its first aircraft - Raptor 4012 - to the U.S. Air Force's Air Warfare Center (AWFC) with the recent signing of formal acceptance documents by government officials.
The aircraft will soon be flown to AWFC's 422nd Test & Evaluation Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nevada.
The delivery marks the first F/A-22 delivery to Air Combat Command, the lead command for continental U.S.-based fighter, bomber and UAV aircraft operated by the Air Force.
At Nellis, Raptor 12 - the twelfth F/A-22 built - will be used initially to teach Operational Test pilots and maintenance personnel how to safely and effectively fly and repair the aircraft. Eventually, AWFC pilots will use Raptor 12 (Air Force serial number 00-012) and the other seven F/A-22s assigned to the unit to develop the tactics, techniques and procedures for the entire Combat Air Forces (CAF). In addition, these aircraft will be used to train the initial cadre of Air Education and Training Command instructor pilots stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
The F/A-22 Raptor is built by Lockheed Martin in partnership with Boeing, powered by Pratt & Whitney engines, and made from parts and subsystems provided by approximately 1,200 subcontractors and suppliers in 46 states. Principal aircraft production activities take place at Lockheed Martin facilities in Marietta, Ga., Fort Worth, Texas, and Palmdale, Calif., as well as at Boeing's plant in Seattle, Wash. The engines are built in East Hartford, Conn.
F/A-22 Raptor 4001, the first of the Air Force's next-generation of air superiorty fighter jets, flew its 100th mission at Edwards, with Boeing test pilot Chuck Killberg at the controls. The F/A-22 is undergoing the most extensive and sophisticated testing of any combat aircraft ever developed, giving the Air Force and its industry partners adequate time to properly design, build and test the Raptor before being put into production. [U.S. Air Force photo]
The delivery marks the first F/A-22 delivery to Air Combat Command, the lead command for continental U.S.-based fighter, bomber and UAV aircraft operated by the Air Force.
At Nellis, Raptor 12 - the twelfth F/A-22 built - will be used initially to teach Operational Test pilots and maintenance personnel how to safely and effectively fly and repair the aircraft. Eventually, AWFC pilots will use Raptor 12 (Air Force serial number 00-012) and the other seven F/A-22s assigned to the unit to develop the tactics, techniques and procedures for the entire Combat Air Forces (CAF). In addition, these aircraft will be used to train the initial cadre of Air Education and Training Command instructor pilots stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
The F/A-22 Raptor is built by Lockheed Martin in partnership with Boeing, powered by Pratt & Whitney engines, and made from parts and subsystems provided by approximately 1,200 subcontractors and suppliers in 46 states. Principal aircraft production activities take place at Lockheed Martin facilities in Marietta, Ga., Fort Worth, Texas, and Palmdale, Calif., as well as at Boeing's plant in Seattle, Wash. The engines are built in East Hartford, Conn.
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