a
World Air Force News - United States
 
 
United States Air Force has deployed twelve F-22 Raptors stealth fighter aircraft in Japan.
 
Twelve F-22 Raptors and 300 staff from the US Air Force are to arrive at Kadena Air base in Japan today. That’s according to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency. The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation supermaneuverable fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology.
     
Twelve F-22 Raptors and 300 staff from the US Air Force are to arrive at Kadena Air base in Japan today. That’s according to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency. The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation supermaneuverable fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology.
Airman 1st Class Ronieiesha Baker, 82nd Security Forces Squadron, patrols the flightline Aug. 28, 2012 at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. F-22 Raptors from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., were evacuated to Sheppard as a precautionary measure in advance of Hurricane Issac.

     

The Raptor has three internal weapons bays: a large bay on the bottom of the fuselage, and two smaller bays on the sides of the fuselage, aft of the engine intakes. It can carry six compressed-carriage medium range missiles in the center bay and one short range missile in each of the two side bays. Four of the medium range missiles can be replaced with two bomb racks that can each carry one medium-size bomb or four small diameter bombs.

The deployment is the seventh since 2007. It will last 4 months. There are currently fifty F-15 fighter jets based permanently at Kadena. And according to NHK, the US military is considering deployment of the CV-22 Osprey to Okinawa Prefecture within the next few years.

Last autumn, the US Marines deployed twelve MV-22 Ospreys to their Futenma Air Station. The move has sparked an uproar among Okinawa residents over safety. The CV-22 is used to transport special forces. Last June, a CV-22 Osprey crashed in Florida during a training exercise. Okinawans are demanding the local government to cancel the deployment.