Raptors wrap up Guam deployment (xpost from Veterans)

F-22 Raptors fly above Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on July 20. Between July 18 and Aug. 2, the Raptors practiced defending the island by dropping 20 live bombs on Farallon de Medinilla, a military target range in the nearby U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.



Raptors wrap up Guam deployment
By Audrey McAvoy - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Aug 7, 2008 10:40:31 EDT

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — The Air Force has been breaking in its new fleet of F-22s this summer by sending five of the planes from cool and dry Alaska to hot and humid Guam.

The July 18 to Aug. 2 deployment from Elmendorf Air Force Base’s 90th Fighter Squadron to the U.S. territory marked just the second time the F-22 has ventured outside the U.S. Its first such trip was early last year, when Pacific Air Forces sent 12 Raptors from Langley Air Force Base, Va., to Okinawa for three months.

While on Guam, the Raptors practiced defending the island by dropping 20 live bombs on Farallon de Medinilla, a military target range in the nearby U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Guam deployment offered the Elmendorf crews a chance to grow accustomed to flying and maintaining the F-22 in the territory’s climate.

~snip~

The military has plans to buy 183 F-22s, which cost around $160 million apiece.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/08/ap_guamraptors_080608/



uhc comment: Earth to Audrey. Earth to Audrey! Yoo hoo! Over here!

1. We already own 187 of these bad boys.

2. The F-22 costs $355 million, not $160 million a pop.

3. Do your homework next time, Associated Press gal.