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The Air Force announced the start of Initial Operational Test and Evaluation of the F/A-22 Raptor at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California, on 29 April, with a two-ship formation flight. IOT&E will evaluate the Raptor's lethality, survivability, deployability, and maintainability in a variety of operational missions. "Today marks an important milestone for the Raptor," said Dr. Marvin Sambur, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. "The Raptor's advanced stealth, supercruise speeds, remarkable maneuverability, and highly integrated avionics ensure absolute air dominance in the coming decades." The Air Force expects to complete IOT&E later this year. Initial operational capability of the F/A-22 is scheduled for December 2005 at Langley AFB, Virginia.
Photo By Kevin Robertson
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