12/15/2005
Dear Raptor Team,
We did it! Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of the F-22A Raptor was declared this afternoon by General Ronald E. Keys, Air Combat Commander at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
In doing so, the General said the Raptor is now available for use in combat around the globe and for use in homeland defense missions. The current 27th Fighter Squadron combat deployment capability with the F-22A is a 12-ship deployable package designed to execute air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
In the words of General Keys, “The F-22A fulfills a long quest to bring fifth generation capabilities of stealth, supercruise and precision to the warfighter today and 30 years from today. If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will go with us. The Raptor’s cutting edge technology brings us continued joint air dominance despite advancing enemy threats.”
While declaring IOC, General Keys also publicly announced that the name of the Raptor has been changed from F/A-22 to F-22A, as indicated earlier this week when Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael Moseley, said the Air Force decided to remove the letter "A" from the first part of the fighter's designation to better align the Raptor with previous Air Force fighters. The “A” in the back of F-22 is also in line with the way the Air Force denotes updated or spiral versions that are produced after the initial baseline model weapons system.
From our perspective, we’ll keep on making the best fighter ever designed, tested, manufactured and delivered to a grateful nation.
Congratulations again and well done on making history!
Larry Lawson,
Executive Vice President & F-22 General Manager
Dear Raptor Team,
We did it! Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of the F-22A Raptor was declared this afternoon by General Ronald E. Keys, Air Combat Commander at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
In doing so, the General said the Raptor is now available for use in combat around the globe and for use in homeland defense missions. The current 27th Fighter Squadron combat deployment capability with the F-22A is a 12-ship deployable package designed to execute air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
In the words of General Keys, “The F-22A fulfills a long quest to bring fifth generation capabilities of stealth, supercruise and precision to the warfighter today and 30 years from today. If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will go with us. The Raptor’s cutting edge technology brings us continued joint air dominance despite advancing enemy threats.”
While declaring IOC, General Keys also publicly announced that the name of the Raptor has been changed from F/A-22 to F-22A, as indicated earlier this week when Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael Moseley, said the Air Force decided to remove the letter "A" from the first part of the fighter's designation to better align the Raptor with previous Air Force fighters. The “A” in the back of F-22 is also in line with the way the Air Force denotes updated or spiral versions that are produced after the initial baseline model weapons system.
From our perspective, we’ll keep on making the best fighter ever designed, tested, manufactured and delivered to a grateful nation.
Congratulations again and well done on making history!
Larry Lawson,
Executive Vice President & F-22 General Manager
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