Raptor Declared Combat Ready

Lockheed Martin's F-22A Raptor surpassed a monumental milestone Thursday when the United States Air Force declared the Raptor has reached initial operational capability -- meaning it is officially ready to serve on the front lines. General Ronald E. Keys, Commander of Air Combat Command, made the historic announcement at Langley Air Force Base, VA, from a Raptor hangar near his headquarters.

"The F-22A fulfills a long quest to bring 5th generation capabilities of stealth, supercruise, and precision to the warfighter today and for decades to come," said General Keys in an Air Force news release. "If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will go with us."

The Air Force is now capable of deploying and supporting 12 F-22A Raptor aircraft anywhere in the world to execute air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The Raptor is also qualified to perform homeland defense missions when required.

"F-22A IOC means our warfighters now have an unprecedented lethal mix of air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities at their disposal," added General Keys. "The Raptor’s cutting edge technology brings us continued joint air dominance despite advancing enemy threats."

With the announcement came a change in the aircraft's official designator. While the Raptor was known as the F-22 since the first prototype flights in the early 1990s, an "A" designator was added in late 2002 to reflect the aircraft's ground-attack capabilities, as well as divert some of the financial sting from critics who called the fighter too expensive.

"This isn’t your father’s F-22," then-Air Force Secretary Jim Roche said in a 2002 interview.

Although the aircraft has since once again reverted to being known as the F-22A (with the "A" signifying the aircraft series, and not its capabilities) its likely nothing has been lost in the aircraft's actual performance -- especially since many of the Raptor's capabilities remain classified.

The Raptor is built by Lockheed Martin in partnership with Boeing, with its revolutionary "supercruise"-capable engines provided by Pratt & Whitney. Approximately 1,000 suppliers in 42 states provide parts and subsystems.

F-22 production takes place at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics facilities in Palmdale, CA; Meridian, MS; Marietta, GA; and Fort Worth, TX, as well as at Boeing's plant in Seattle, WA. Final assembly and initial flight testing of the Raptor occurs at the Marietta plant facilities.

FMI: www.af.mil, www.lockheedmartin.com