First USAF delivery September 26, 2003
Initial Operational
Capability (IOC)December 15, 2005Full Operational
Capability (FOC)December 12, 2007Deliveries completed May 5, 2012
Production total 195 aircraft
Weapons AIM-9M/X
AIM-120 AMRAAM
GBU-32 JDAM
GBU-39 SDBRAPTOR FACTS
rst of two F-22 squadrons to be activated
at Holloman. The squadron was equipped
with 18 F-22s transferred from Elmendorf.
The 8th FS ‘Black Sheep’ soon became
Holloman’s second Raptor unit, taking
18 Permanently Assigned Assets (PAA),
however after just two years it was
announced that the squadron would
stand down as part of the Raptor eet
consolidation plan. Holloman’s Raptors
started to be re-distributed and the ‘Black
Sheep’ gave up their last jet and inactivated
on July 15, 2011. Following a period of legal
wrangling, the ‘Screamin’ Demons’ followed
suit and by April 2014 the last of its aircraft
had been re-assigned to the reactivated
95th Fighter Squadron ‘Boneheads’
at Tyndall.
As well as active-associate Air National
Guard and Air Force Reserve Command
units at the main Air Combat Command
F-22 wings, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
is home to the only ANG-led F-22 units.
The rst of 20 Raptors arrived here in July
2010 and are today own by pilots fromthe 199th Fighter Squadron of the Hawaii
Air National Guard’s 154th Wing and active
duty Air Force pilots from the 19th Fighter
Squadron of the 15th Wing. ‘The arrival
of the F-22s begins a new chapter in the
already close relationship between the
Guard and the active duty in Hawaii,’ said
Army Maj Gen Robert G. F. Lee, the adjutant
general of the Hawaii National Guard.
‘We’ve partnered with the 15th Wing since
2006 ying and maintaining the C-17s,
except now in the case of the F-22s it will
be a Guard asset with the active Air Force
working in association with us.’
The nal F-22A (10-4195) was rolled out
at Marietta on December 13, 2011 and
its maiden ight accomplished on March
14, 2012. Following painting, this aircraft
was delivered in company with 10-4193
to the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-
Richardson, Alaska on May 5, 2012. Raptor
deliveries had been completed.
Today, the F-22A’s air-to-air weapons are
the AIM-120C radar-guided missile, the
AIM-9M infra-red-guided missile, and theM61A1 20mm gun. Its precision-strike
capability consists of the 1,000lb GBU-32
Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and
the 250lb GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb
(SDB) Increment One.
For all of its plaudits in the air-to-air role,
the Raptor still has a handful of notable
aws, especially in terms of limited range
and high maintenance requirements.
In relation to the latter, the USAF has
matured maintenance practices and
modi ed its deployment concept. BasedBelow left to
right: Lt Col
James Hecker
was selected to
command the
rst operational
F-22 unit — the
27th FS. USAF/
TSgt Samuel
Rogers
The F-15C
(nearest the
camera) made
way for the F-22
at Langley as the
1st Fighter Wing
converted to the
Raptor. USAF/
TSgt Ben BlokerRAPTOR^3528-37 Niemi and Service C.indd 35 28/09/2017 14:52