Hawaii Guard gets peek at F-22 - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Hawaii Guard gets peek at F-22

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — The Air Force’s most advanced and lethal fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor, touched down in Hawaii on Thursday en route to Japan for the plane’s first overseas deployment.

The months-long mission in Okinawa will add to the U.S. military deterrent against North Korea and contribute to the defense of Japan, a major U.S. ally.

“The planes will be there to show the presence, to make sure that our allies understand our commitment to the security arrangements we have with them,” said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Remington, the Pacific Air Forces air and space director.

The refueling and rest stop in the islands had the side benefit of allowing Hawaii National Guard airmen to get a close look at the sleek, blue-gray aircraft they will be flying in a few years under Air Force plans to base Raptors here in 2010.

The Air Force and defense contractors have been developing the F-22 for decades, but the plane only became operational — or available for combat missions — in December 2005.

The Air Force said the mission, which officials have been planning for months, was unrelated to current events in the region, including the standoff with North Korea about its nuclear weapons program.

While at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, the jets are expected to hold combined exercises with Japan’s air force, U.S. F-15s, and the U.S. Navy.

The plane’s unique combination of stealth and maneuverability make it the most dominant fighter jet in the world.

Other Air Force stealth planes, like the B-2 bomber and the F-117 fighter, can sneak past enemy radar. But they can’t quickly maneuver around airspace and can’t defend themselves against enemy fighter jets.

The Air Force also has other fighter jets, like earlier generation F-16 and F-15 models, but these don’t have the stealth to fly undetected.

“I still shoot the same missiles that other fighters shoot. It’s just that I can go places they can’t go,” said Lt. Col. Wade Tolliver, squadron commander for the unit taking the F-22s to Okinawa. “And I can employ my weapons and no one can see me doing it. So it obviously gives me a huge advantage.”

The aircraft showed their might on the first day of exercises in Alaska last year, when Raptors “killed” F-15 and F-16 fighter jets 144 times. The older models failed to “shoot down” even one Raptor.

The Air Force has announced plans to base F-22 squadrons in Alaska and Hawaii, where they will replace F-15s, and in New Mexico, where they will replace F-117s.