If any doubt existed the F-22A Raptor stealth fighter jet would be ready for combat less than a year after one crashed on takeoff during testing at Nellis Air Force Base, it was erased Thursday.
In a teleconference from Langley Air Force Base, Va., Air Combat Command Gen. Ronald E. Keys declared the Raptor combat operational and said, "It's a great day for us. ... I'm very happy to have this arrow in our quiver."
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The announcement follows what Keys said were successful demonstrations flying Raptors against surface-to-air missiles at the Nellis range and dropping Joint Direct Attack Munitions, "smart bombs," at the Utah Test and Training Range.
Regarding the Utah range demonstration, 22 out of 24 "were perfect bombs," Keys said. "They exceeded the probability in how they perform and accuracy."
The problems from the two that did not perform as expected were the result of a bomb problem in one case and a problem with the aircraft in the second case.
With the success of the demonstrations, he said, the Air Force is ready to conduct its first peacetime deployment by flying 12 Raptors from Langley to Alaska in June, for an exercise dubbed Northern Edge.
The Raptor is a multipurpose supercruiser that can span the 12,000-square-mile Nellis range in seven minutes, flying at roughly 17 miles per minute.
It can drop a pair of 1,000-pound smart bombs, fire air-to-air missiles and shoot a six-barrel cannon. Its high-tech gear enables pilots to evade enemy aircraft while giving them first-sight targeting capability.
In simulated air-combat operations launched from Nellis, aggressor pilots in F-16s have said they barely have been able to detect Raptors let alone escape their weapons.
The program suffered a setback on Dec. 20, 2004, when one of the eight Raptors assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis crashed on takeoff in what Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper described a month later as a glitch in the software for controlling flight.
The pilot, Lt. Col. Robert Garland, who was a major at the time, ejected safely from the $133 million jet before it slammed into the runway at the north end of the base. The plane was destroyed, leaving seven Raptors assigned to the test squadron at Nellis.
In a report released in June, Air Force investigators concluded that a power interruption that lasted less than a second led to a flight-control software glitch that caused the crash. The investigation brought changes to training and operating manuals for dealing with auxiliary power.
Keys said Thursday that Nellis is still on course to have 16 Raptors by 2008, with nine assigned to the 57th Wing's Weapons School.
A Nellis spokesman, Capt. Dan DuBois, said base officials are elated that the Raptor program met its test goals to reach what is called "Initial Operational Capability" this year.
"There's satisfaction in coming to the end of this phase," DuBois said. "There's been a lot of hard work and long hours put in to put the Raptor through its paces. There's a sense of accomplishment in reaching this milestone," he said.
Keys said the 12 Raptors assigned to the 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley is a small number plucked from the Air Force's initial objective to field 381 Raptors. Congress has decreased money for Raptor procurement, research, development, testing and evaluation, with $5.1 billion spent on the program in 2004, $4.7 billion this year and $4.4 billion slated for 2006.
The nation's Raptor fleet is spread among Langley, Nellis, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., and a few other bases involved in component testing.
This year, defense planners said manufacturing will be halted in 2008, when 179 Raptors will have been built. The number is 96 fewer than called for in previous budgets and 202 short of the 381 planes that Air Force leaders have said would be needed to cover potential threats worldwide over three decades.
"If we can't afford 381, that means we have to rebalance our portfolio," Keys said. "The Raptor is not going to go to war alone."
Some aircraft in the fleets of F-16s and F-15s that were targeted for retirement might be kept longer, Keys said.
Air Force officials will focus on developing F-35 Joint Strike fighter jets to replace the aging fleets of F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Thunderbolt tank killers.
They expect that three dozen F-35s will be produced and delivered to Nellis Air Force Base between 2009 and 2028. The planes will be used to train instructor pilots and support the Air Force Weapons School's mission.
The F-35 has been touted to be the air combat workhorse, with versions to meet the needs of the Marines and the Navy too.
Jumper has said that while the Raptor is designed to "kick down the door" in air combat, the F-35 is designed to come in and "mop up" any potential threats that remain.
