ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AP) - The U.S. Air Force on
Wednesday stationed its first squadron of stealth fighters outside the contiguous United States, saying the Alaska base is an ideal gateway to Asia and Europe.
It was standing-room only as earplug-wearing onlookers craned their necks to see the touchdown of the F-22 Raptor, an insidious, super-cruising fighter that officials say is unmatched by any other aircraft.Eight of the stealth fighters are now stationed at the Anchorage base. When Elmendorf's two squadrons are complete, the 40 planes - including two reserves for each squadron - will make up more than a fifth of all the Air Force's Raptors.
The reason for that is Alaska's unique strategic location, said Gen. Paul Hester, commander of the Pacific Air Forces. Its easy access to Asia and Europe make Alaska an ideal location to house the most deadly tool in the box, he said.
Planes are now being test flown at other bases, with one other combat squadron stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
The Air Force also announced Wednesday it had signed a production contract with Lockheed Martin to add 60 Raptors to the Air Force by December 2011, which will complete plans to buy 183 total planes.
Among those on hand for Wednesday's welcoming ceremony was U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who noted he has worked on the program since its inception in 1981.
Stevens said recent criticism of the program - that it's overpriced and unnecessary in the age of terrorism because there is no other air power in the world that can challenge the U.S. - is dated and off-base. He said the Air Force needs the cutting-edge technology of the Raptor to keep America secure.
"Rather than asking who we're going to fly the F-22 against, we should ask who's going to fly against the F-22," he said.
Critics also claim many of its features, such as its stealth capability, were included to showcase American ingenuity rather than to build a practical, modern-day fighter.
But Lt. Gen. John Bradley, chief of the Air Force Reserve, said the Raptor represents a practical need to keep America's edge as other countries continue to develop their own air prowess.
"We need this aircraft badly today, but we need it even more badly for the future," he said. "It's a capability that no one else has and this is going to give us air superiority for years to come."
The Raptor can cruise faster than Mach 1.5 - one and a half times faster than the speed of sound - without using its afterburner, but its top speed is confidential. The Raptor can also perform tactical maneuvers at altitudes greater than 50,000 feet, far superior to current fighters such as the F-15 and F-16. And it has stealth capability, so it can attack air and ground targets undetected.
Each plane - built collaboratively by Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney - costs $135 million. When research, development and testing costs are factored in, its cost rises to about $350 million each.
Larry Lawson, executive vice president and F-22 general manager at Lockheed Martin, said the Raptor has been reconfigured to adjust to the changing nature of combat since it was originally designed to combat aerial Soviet threats. For instance, the Raptor is designed to avoid surface-to-air missiles, and it can now attack ground targets, he said.
"The world's a lot more complex today than simply flying around in air-to-air combat," he said. "Other nations have been looking into this sort of technology for quite a while, but we'll have the edge with the Raptor."
Hester said the world is continuing to move forward with weapons production, and America can't afford to lag behind. Because adequately planning and developing a new weapon system takes years, Hester said the Air Force needs to plan now for whatever may happen 10 or 20 years down the road.
"Terrorism as a threat will not only go on for the next five years," he said. "We must have weapons that can support America's needs."