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After two weeks of intense effort, a joint Air Force and Army team has suspended recovery and restoration efforts for the F-22 Raptor that crashed Nov. 16 near Cantwell, Alaska. An Air Force team did recover the remains of the pilot, Capt. Jeff Haney. Safety experts are now examining the wreckage as they seek to determine the cause of the accident. Air Force officials say much as been done to clean up the crash site but caution some risks remain. Any debris discovered by snowmachiners or others in the area should not be handled, said Air Force Col. (Dr.) Paul...

"A squadron of F-22s should be sent to Osan Air Base in South Korea and start conducting air patrols along the DMZ and over South Korean territory that is targeted by the North. Anything that fires on the F-22s should be destroyed, just as the North should have destroyed the artillery guns that attacked its island this week. Let the F-22s show they have a real role to play in protecting our allies and in operating with impunity in conflict areas, just as they were designed to do. And let the message get through to Pyongyang that if we want...

The U.S. Air Force’s senior officer has acknowledged concern over the Lockheed Martin F-35 program, in particular slow software development that may push the Joint Strike Fighter’s operational debut into 2016. “There are some issues with respect to timing on software development,” the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz, told a group of defense writers this week in Washington. “We don’t have a complete understanding yet of whether that will affect the new, predicted [initial operating capability] of April 2016. I’m still concerned about the schedule – a little less on technical matters, [but] software appears to be...

Sale Of Russian Fighters To China Undermines Gates Decision On F-22 17:07 GMT, November 22, 2010 Defense publications are reporting that Russia is considering selling its newest fighter, the SU-35, to China. The SU-35 has enhanced radar, improved avionics, better flight surfaces, a more powerful engine and larger fuel tanks. Aviation experts characterize the SU-35 as a Generation 4+ aircraft. This is just a short technological step behind the U.S. F-35, the future mainstay of the U.S. fighter fleet. China’s Air Force is in the midst of a major modernization program that is focused in particular on improving its ability...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Evidence found at the remote, rugged Alaska site where an F-22 Raptor crashed indicates the pilot died, an Air Force official said Friday evening. Part of the jet's ejection seat was found at the site, which means Capt. Jeffrey Haney of Clarklake, Mich., could not have survived the Tuesday night crash, Col. Jack McMullen said. Also found were pieces of the flight suit Haney had been wearing. (excerpt)

The Air Force has apparently gotten over one of its biggest taboos: talking internally about the possibility of buying more F-22s. Until recently, USAF was under strict orders not even to think about it, but recent developments have caused the possibility to crop up in some "what if" PowerPoint slides. Those developments include likely further slips in the F-35 strike fighter's schedule and an upcoming defense acquisition board review of the F-35 expected to be fraught with bad news on cost. That would come on the heels of various deficit-cutting proposals that already suggest cutting the F-35 buy. Without F-35,...

The lightning rod for rapid fielding of directed energy (DE) weapons and advanced sensors will be the military’s next-generation jammer programs that exploit technologies like active electronically scanned arrays (AESAs) antennas and high-power microwave (HPM) capabilities, say senior U.S. government and industry officials at the 13th Directed Energy Conference. Radars on the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35, and Boeing F/A-18F and EA-18G, already have the potential to fire focused beams of energy as soon as funding is available to develop the necessary advanced algorithms. The U.S. Navy’s Next Generation Jammer program is expected to move AESA from radar applications to...

The Air Force has identified the pilot missing after the Alaska crash of an F-22 Raptor jet as Capt. Jeffrey Haney. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson spokeswoman Corinna Jones said Thursday that Haney is from Jackson, Mich. He's assigned to the 525th Fighter Squadron. His single-seat F-22 took off Tuesday from the Anchorage base for a nighttime training run. The aircraft and a second F-22 were nearing completion of their mission when one jet disappeared from ground radar tracking Tuesday evening. Searchers found the crash site Wednesday about 100 miles north of Anchorage. Rescue teams continue to search the area, looking for...

Search and rescue teams have identified the location of the latest loss of a U.S. Air Force F-22, this one crashing during a nighttime training mission while operating from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The F-22 lost contact with air traffic control around 7:40 p.m. local time on Nov. 16. The crash site was found 100 mi. north of Anchorage, the USAF says. The aircraft was part of a two-ship formation, “Rocky One” and “Rocky Three.” The mishap flight was “Rocky Three” with “Rocky One” unable to locate the crashed aircraft. The crash site was discovered around 10:15 a.m. local time...

"F-22 Raptor 4168 ascends over C-130H aircraft belonging to the 94th Airlift Wing at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., shortly after taking off from the company's Marietta facility on its delivery flight to Langley AFB, Va., Tuesday [26 October 2010]. Raptor 4168 is the 15th F-22 delivered to the U.S. Air Force this year, the 168th overall."  

UPDATED 4:15 p.m.: Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson reports that it has located the apparent wreckage of an overdue F-22 Raptor some 100 miles north of Anchorage. Here's an updated press release: JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AFNS) -- Search and rescue crews have found the apparent wreckage of an F-22 Raptor Nov. 17 that was assigned to the 3rd Wing here. The jet lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. local time while on a routine training mission Nov. 16. A search was coordinated by officials with the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center. Airmen in HH-60 Pave Hawk...

Washington (CNN) -- An Alaska-based Air Force F-22 that went missing on a training mission is "believed to be crashed," a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday. Col. Dave Lapan did not immediately give other details about the situation. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control Tuesday evening, officials from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson at Anchorage, Alaska, said Wednesday. Gary Strasburg, an Air Force spokesman, told CNN that a pilot was in the single-seat aircraft during a routine training mission. Contact was lost with the F-22 at 7:40 p.m. Alaska time (11:40 p.m. ET) on Tuesday.

Search and rescue aircraft have discovered the apparent wreckage of an Air Force F-22 assigned to the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Alaska time yesterday while on a nighttime training mission. To continue searching for the missing pilot, a rescue team is being dispatched to the area, approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage, by the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center, the 3rd Wing and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Within the next few years, we will begin work on the sixth generation [fighter] capabilities necessary for future air dominance.” The Secretary of the Air Force, Michael B. Donley, and the USAF Chief of Staff, Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, issued that statement in an April 13 Washington Post article. The Air Force may have to move a little faster to develop that next generation fighter. While anticipated F-22 and F-35 inventories seem settled, there won’t be enough to fix shortfalls in the fighter fleet over the next 20 years, as legacy fighters retire faster than fifth generation replacements appear. The...

The Air Force says they have found the apparent wreckage of the F-22 that went missing Tuesday night. A rescue team is being deployed to the area approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage. The jet, from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, was on a training mission when it lost contact with air traffic control Tuesday night. The plane carries one pilot. The Alaska Air National Guard is leading the search effort, using three helicopters and a cargo plane. In a news release, the guard says the F-22 was flying with another fighter, which also lost contact with it....

Saw a short blurb on a missing F-22 and pilot in Alaska earlier today. Anybody heard anything new? Colonel, USAFR

An Air Force pilot and his stealth fighter assigned to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska went missing Tuesday evening. The F-22 Raptor was on a routine training mission when it lost contact with air traffic control at 7:40 p.m. Alaska time.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Search and rescue teams are looking for a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor and its pilot that went missing during a flight over Alaska late Tuesday, military officials told NBC News. The officials said the advanced stealth fighter jet was about 90 miles northeast of Elmendorf Air Force Base when it "dropped off the radar." There was no mayday or any other communication from the pilot that would have indicated the plane was in trouble, the officials told NBC News. There have been no distress calls from the pilot since the plane went missing. U.S. military...

The Air Force has apparently gotten over one of its biggest taboos: talking internally about the possibility of buying more F-22s. Until recently, USAF was under strict orders not even to think about it, but recent developments have caused the possibility to crop up in some "what if" PowerPoint slides. Those developments include likely further slips in the F-35 strike fighter's schedule and an upcoming defense acquisition board review of the F-35 expected to be fraught with bad news on cost. That would come on the heels of various deficit-cutting proposals that already suggest cutting the F-35 buy. Without F-35,...

As Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Ga., plant prepares to begin building the 187th—and last—F-22 super-fighter, the military is already dreaming of its successor. In a query to the aerospace industry earlier this month, the Air Force laid out its wish list, and it wants everything: a plane that can win dogfights, demolish air-defense missile networks, support ground troops, and run surveillance missions; a partial prototype would be ready by 2020, with entry into service by 2030. This may be wishful thinking, given the saga of the current wondercraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. With a development and production price tag of...