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New version of the fighter gets radar improvements and more The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon has been around for over three decades and so far there have been nearly 4,500 delivered. The F-16 will continue for many years to come and Lockheed Martin has today unveiled a new version called F-16V. The new version of the fighter jet was unveiled at the Singapore Airshow and has new feature enhancements to make the aircraft more formidable. The F-16 V gets new active electronically scanned array radar (AESA), an upgraded mission computer and architecture, along with improvements inside the cockpit. Lockheed...

One afternoon last fall at Fort Benning, Ga., two model-size planes took off, climbed to 800 and 1,000 feet, and began criss-crossing the military base in search of an orange, green and blue tarp. The automated, unpiloted planes worked on their own, with no human guidance, no hand on any control. After 20 minutes, one of the aircraft, carrying a computer that processed images from an onboard camera, zeroed in on the tarp and contacted the second plane, which flew nearby and used its own sensors to examine the colorful object. Then one of the aircraft signaled to an unmanned...

Older railgun projectiles tumbled through the air; this one flies with what can only be called grace. This amazing video, created by Defense Tech, shows the latest test of General Atomics' high-speed railgun. Where earlier attempts have fired ungainly missiles that tumbled end-over-end through the air like "hypersonic bricks," this one uses a sabot round, which flies straight and smoothly for a distance of seven kilometers, AFTER punching through a solid steel plate.

A futuristic laser mounted on a speeding cruiser successfully blasted a bobbing, weaving boat from the waters of the Pacific Ocean -- the first test at sea of such a gun and a fresh milestone in the Navy's quest to reoutfit the fleet with a host of laser weapons, the Navy announced Friday. "We were able to have a destructive effect on a high-speed cruising target," chief of Naval research Rear Adm. Nevin Carr told FoxNews.com. The test occurred Wednesday near San Nicholas Island, off the coast of Central California in the Pacific Ocean test range, from a laser gun...

New product from Bourque Industries is far stronger than current standard, first to protect against rifle fire, joins other revolutionary Bourque Industries products TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bourque Industries, Inc. (OTC:BORK) will unveil its new Kryronized aluminum alloy ballistic helmet at a live-fire demonstration in Mesa, Ariz. This new technology will bring unprecedented ballistic protection – the ability to withstand rifle fire – to military and law enforcement personnel in a package that meets all other required specifications (not an April Fool's joke, Ed.). To the best knowledge of Bourque Industries, no other available technology can provide a similar level of protection...

F-35C maiden flight (Source: Lockheed Martin) Maiden flight lasted about an hour The F-35 Lightning II is one of the most ambitious and most expensive aircraft platforms that has ever entered development by the U.S. military. To help offset some of the costs to develop and build the F-35, the U.S. entered into agreements with partner nations that would allow the nations to buy the aircraft and share some of the costs of the program. There have been some significant issues with the program that have put the F-35 behind schedule in some instances and run costs up. However, Lockheed...

How Australia Is Networking Its Forces By David A. Fulghum Canberra and Washington Australia is integrating three new operational elements into its advanced, network-centric military—a squadron of Wedge­tail aircraft, the first two squadrons of F/A-18F Super Hornets and the Vigi­lare theater surveillance integration system. All are designed as the backbone of a small, highly responsive force. The country is refashioning its armed services as the core of an international force—integrating a variety of foreign participants—that will be capable of responding to military emergencies or natural disasters. However, this cutting-edge organization was envisioned somewhat differently only five years ago. The Boeing...

Joint High Speed Vessel: Great Potential, But Questions Remain March 2011 By Grace V. Jean The Defense Department this decade will build a fleet of new high-speed aluminum ships specifically designed to shuttle hundreds of troops and tons of cargo around a theater of operations. These shallow-draft logistics ships, analysts say, will become valuable vehicles for executing “soft power” missions — responding to natural disasters, providing humanitarian assistance, conducting port visits and training partner military forces, among others. The Defense Department currently accomplishes this role using traditional warships such as the Navy’s “big deck” amphibious vessels. Analysts say the joint...

The Navy has passed a major milestone in its quest to build an incredibly powerful new anti-aircraft gun. Scientists with the Navy's Office of Naval Research have demonstrated a prototype system capable of producing from thin air the electrons needed to generate ultrapowerful, "megawatt-class" laser beams for the agency's next-generation system. (snip)Navy ships have become vulnerable in modern times to supersonic missiles because of their slower defense systems, the agency worries. "The FEL is expected to provide future U.S. Naval forces with a near-instantaneous laser ship defense in any maritime environment throughout the world,” Saulter said.

Five landings are the first of 42 needed to move to at-sea trialsOf all the F-35 Lightning II variants currently in testing, the most troubled has been the F-35B STOVL fighter. The aircraft has had recurring issues with sub-components that are failing at higher than expected rates leading to problems and delays in the flight program. The F-35B fighter was also dealt a blow when the program was recently put on a 2-year probationary period. Lockheed is still hard at work on the F-35B and the aircraft has shown some progress recently. Defense News reports that the aircraft has had a series of five...

Rolls-Royce to Power Ten Littoral Combat Ships for the U.S Navy (Source: Rolls-Royce plc; issued January 16, 2011) Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, will supply gas turbines and waterjets for ten of the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) – the Group’s largest ever marine naval surface ship contract. Designed to operate in combat zones close to the shore (littoral waters), each LCS will be equipped with two Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines powering four large waterjets, enabling the vessels to reach speeds in excess of 40 knots. At 36 megawatts, the MT30 is the world’s most powerful marine gas...

With Air Force's new drone, 'we can see everything'By Ellen Nakashima and Craig Whitlock Washington Post Staff Writers Sunday, January 2, 2011; 12:09 AM In ancient times, Gorgon was a mythical Greek creature whose unblinking eyes turned to stone those who beheld them. In modern times, Gorgon may be one of the military's most valuable new tools. This winter, the Air Force is set to deploy to Afghanistan what it says is a revolutionary airborne surveillance system called Gorgon Stare, which will be able to transmit live video images of physical movement across an entire town. The system, made up...

Globemaster III tops mark in Afghan airdrop. This early C-17, built by McDonnell Douglas in the pre-Boeing days, takes off from the Barstow-Daggett Airfield as part of a 30-day Air Force evaluation of the military cargo planes. A Globemaster III topped the 2,000,000 flying hour mark in Afghanistan. (Steven Georges / Press-Telegram) LONG BEACH — The worldwide fleet of C-17 Globemaster III airlifters built by The Boeing Company surpassed 2 million flying hours during an airdrop mission over Afghanistan on Dec. 10. Reaching 2 million flight hours equates to 1.13 billion nautical miles -- the equivalent of a C-17 flying...

Littoral Combat Ship Miracle Bids Likely To Be Accepted By Congress 20:26 GMT, December 15, 2010 Recent testimony by senior officials of the U.S. Department of the Navy before the Senate Appropriations Committee reveal the source of their new-found enthusiasm for buying both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Apparently both bidders, Lockheed Martin and Austal, came in with bids one-third lower than the price being charged for the initial set of four vessels. At $440-460 million a copy for the sea frame, the opportunity to acquire a mixed fleet of LCS is almost irresistible. Moreover, these “miracle bids”...

Revamped Navies On Display At Euronaval By Christina Mackenzie, Pat Toensmeier, Robert Wall Paris, Paris, Paris The future of naval warfare continues to tack toward smaller vessels, littoral operations and security missions. Add to this the budget constraints most navies are working with and the need for multimission capabilities, and itÂ’s clear that much of the emerging naval technology is being directed at these needs. This was apparent at the biennial Euronaval exhibition here Oct. 25-29. Companies displayed expertise in major capital programs, whether ships, weapons or aircraft. But most stressed the ability to tailor existing systems to reduced budgets...

CAPE CANAVERA -- Delta 4 Rocket Blasts Off With U.S. Spy Agency's "Largest Satellite in the World" - Believed to be 328 Feet Wide *********************************************** ( not sure I believe that....)*************************************A powerful Delta 4 rocket roared to life and climbed away from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sunday evening on a high-priority mission to boost a National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite into orbit. Under a cloudy sky, the hydrogen-fueled engines in the three common core boosters of the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 ignited with a rush of orange fire at 5:58 p.m. EST and quickly throttled up...

Euronaval 2010: Specialised UAV ships becoming the rage? October 27, 2010 Shipbuilders are looking to the future producing designs that cater for the launch of UAVs. While helicopter landing spots are now a regular feature, even on small naval patrol vessels, naval engineers are turning their attentions to the facilities that might be needed as more and more conventional and vertical take-off and landing UAVs begin to embark on vessels at sea. DCNS' SMX-25 submarine concept is perhaps one of the most extraordinary vessel designs on display at Euronaval. The diesel electric submarine has been designed to launch UAVs and...

I have never seen anything like this, a military Jeep torn completely down and rebuilt in under four minutes. This isn’t some gimmick either, they drove it to and from the exhibition. While not "tech" related, this is definitely one of the coolest things you will see all day.

OTTAWA - Canada will buy 65 F-35 fighter jets for $9 billion, the government announced Friday. Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced the deal at a glitzy press conference with officials from Lockheed Martin and the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft program. Maintenance and repairs over the next 20 years are expected to cost $7 billion. MacKay said the government chose the F-35 without a public bidding process because it's the only plane that meets Canada's needs, and because Canada is a partner in the JSF program. Critics have decried the contract as "secretive," and "reckless" because they argue other fighter jets...

India joins bat-wing large UAV club By Stephen Trimble on June 18, 2010 12:20 PM India aerospace journalist Shiv Aroor's LiveFist blog today brings us the first conceptual renderings of AURA, the stealth UCAV project that India apparently decided to leak into the public domain a few weeks ago. India's is part of a growing global craze for bat-wing-shaped UAVs. Consider the following list of acknowledged, bat-wing UCAV projects in development across the world: * BAE Systems Taranis * Boeing Phantom Ray * Dassault Neuron * Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel * Mikoyan Skat * Northrop Grumman X-47B Perhaps the most...

Parked all around Naval Base San Diego are impressive vessels that patrol waters all over the globe and in recent years we have been lucky enough to get a front row seat for Aegis Missile Tests, Aircraft Carrier Homeports and the war on terror in the Persian Gulf. Ships like the 'USS Ronald Reagan', 'USS Lake Erie' and the 'USS Milius' have given us an amazing insight into the workings of the world's most powerful Navy and the hard-working sailors and marines who keep us in charge on the seas.FOLLOW ADAM ON TWITTERAs the sun tries to peak through the...

A problem that rendered as many as 10,000 U.S. military GPS receivers useless for days is a warning to safeguard a system that enemies would love to disrupt, a defense expert says. The Air Force has not said how many weapons, planes or other systems were affected or whether any were in use in Iraq or Afghanistan. But the problem, blamed on incompatible software, highlights the military's reliance on the Global Positioning System and the need to protect technology that has become essential for protecting troops, tracking vehicles and targeting weapons. "Everything that moves uses it," said John Pike, director...

A team of amateur sky watchers has pierced the veil of secrecy surrounding the debut flight of the nation’s first robotic spaceplane, finding clues that suggest the military craft is engaged in the development of spy satellites rather than space weapons, which some experts have suspected but the Pentagon strongly denies. Last month, the unmanned successor to the space shuttle blasted off from Florida on its debut mission but attracted little public notice because no one knew where it was going or what it was doing. The spaceship, known as the X-37B, was shrouded in operational secrecy, even as civilian...

India Embraces Defense Technology Road Map By Asia-Pacific Staff New Delhi India is embracing medium- and long-range precision-strike weapons, short-range directed-energy air defenses and unmanned combat air vehicles as key aspirations for its future arsenal, according to a technology plan expected to be released imminently. The need for these capabilities is spelled out in the defense ministry’s ambitious Technology Perspective and Capability Road Map 2010, its first effort to provide industry with an overview of what the armed services hope to field by the middle of the next decade. The document’s stated intent is to drive the “technology and development...

Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Cheyenne (SSN-773) in conjunction with Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet and members of Naval Special Warfare Group (NSWG) 3 successfully fired a Block IV-E Tomahawk Land Attack Missile. The missile launch took place off the southern coast of California into China Lake Test Range and marks the first time a forward-deployed operational command acted as the Tomahawk strike coordinator and primary missile controller for an operational test launch. "The Navy's ability to conduct strike operations on re-locatable targets is currently very challenging," said Master Chief Fire Controlman (SW) David Brewer, U.S. 7th Fleet Tomahawk strike coordinator....

military did no advance testing on a specific type of military GPS receiver that had problems picking up locator signals after a change in ground-control software, the Air Force said Monday. The Air Force tested other equipment, but none of it contained the type of receiver that was unable to lock on to Global Positioning System satellites after the change, said Joe Davidson, a spokesman for the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The manufacturer of the receivers, Trimble Advanced and Military Systems, said it ran its own advance tests using specifications from the Air Force GPS Wing and...

The Army says it is recalling 44,000 advanced combat helmets that have been issued to soldiers worldwide because they do not meet military specifications. The Army said in a statement Friday that the risk to soldiers wearing the helmets is still being determined. New helmets are being issued to anyone who has a defective one. The recall amounts to 4 percent of all advanced combat helmets issued by the Army. The helmets are made by ArmorSource LLC. The company, based in Hebron, Ohio, is a leading maker of combat headgear for the military and police. The army said tests showed...

Marines have high hopes for new EFVs, even if they've been met with criticismThe United States Marine Corps hopes to usher in a new era of multi-million dollar vehicles with its recent unveiling of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) earlier in the week. Military officials expect the faster, more dynamic EFV will replace the USMC's older amphibious assault vehicles. The EFV can travel more than 40 mph on land and 23 to 29 mph while in the water. It also has a 30mm day/night weapons system and better design to pinpoint IEDs and RPGs, which is "vitally important," according to...

Prompt Global Strike (PGS) is an initiative of the United States military to develop a system capable of a conventional weapon strike anywhere in the world within an hour. The system is designed for time-critical strike in emergency situation, or to counter terrorist activities like attacking a terrorist leader based on inputs of his location, or against a rogue state preparing to launch an attack by localised destruction of his weapon assets. Need for Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS) can be described in a given scenario where the United States has learned of a terrorist group’s plan to transport a...

Regina Dugan last summer took over as chief of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In a profile of the 47-year-old PhD in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, The New York Times noted that in recent years DARPA has lost some of the luster it gained over decades as an agency that develops cutting edge military technologies that also filter into the consumer and civilian arena. The agency has been criticized in recent years for shifting its focus too closely to tools and technologies that could have an immediate impact for U.S. soldiers on the front...

U.S. military technologies such as guided bombs and night vision rely heavily upon rare earth elements supplied by China, and rebuilding an independent U.S. supply chain to wean the country off that foreign dependency could take up to 15 years, according to a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Both "light" and "heavy" rare earth elements represent a family of minerals found in commercial products ranging from TV displays to cell phones, as well as green technologies such as hybrid electric motors and wind turbines. For example, the rare earth element neodymium is very magnetic and is...

The ABL did everything it was supposed to do. Now, the Pentagon wants to call it quits. On the night of Feb. 11, off the coast of Southern California, the Missile Defense Agency scored a major achievement by destroying a liquid-fueled ballistic missile target in flight. The important part was that it did so using a laser weapon carried onboard a Boeing 747-400 aircraft. This milestone event constituted the first publicly announced test success for the Airborne Laser (ABL). However, the success was actually the second of its kind within an eight-day period. On Feb. 3, the ABL aircraft was...

The Boeing Company has successfully completed the preliminary design of the U.S. Navy's Free Electron Laser (FEL) weapon system, a key step toward building a FEL prototype for realistic tests at sea. During the preliminary design review held March 9 to March 11 at a Boeing facility in Arlington, Va., the company presented its design to more than 30 U.S. government and National Laboratory representatives. This electric laser will operate by passing a beam of high-energy electrons through a series of powerful magnetic fields, generating an intense emission of laser light that can disable or destroy targets. "The Free Electron...

EO DAS and Related Information: AN/AAQ-37 EO DAS AN/APG-81 AESA Radar for the F-35 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Looks like we have a real winner. I will soon be hitting the rack. Please just enjoy the video and do understand if all they claim is true we still have the edge in dog fights, and air to ground elimination of potential AA defenses. And as some have seen today here and elsewhere, it appears the production F-35 can demonstrate safe hovering. Don't blast me please. I as some are still angry the F22 was dropped. I cannot offer any educated...

It was Christmas Eve 2007 and US Army Rangers were searching for suspected Al-Qaeda members in Mosul, Iraq. They were using their night vision goggles so they would have the element of surprise on their side. The story, detailed in a USA Today article, dramatically demonstrates the advantage night vision capabilities provide to US troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Rangers found 2 Al-Qaeda suspects who were holding an 11-year-old Iraqi boy hostage. Using their night vision capabilities, they were able to shoot the suspects without harming the boy. After that encounter, a firefight erupted between the...

Boeing connected the F-22 Mission Training Center (MTC) at Langley Air Force Base, Va., to the U.S. Air Force's Distributed Mission Operations Network (DMON) in November, allowing F-22 pilots at the base to train virtually with pilots in other aircraft platforms for the first time. The MTC at Langley is the first of four F-22 training centers that Boeing will link to the network over the next three years. The Air Force's Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) configuration enables MTC sites to connect with one another via the DMON, increasing the scale and improving the accuracy of training operations. Connecting the...

In a flight test reminiscent of the early days of the historic X-15 program 50 years earlier, the X-51A Waverider was carried aloft for the first time over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 9 by an Air Force Flight Test Center B-52H Stratofortress. The "captive carry" test was a key milestone in preparation for the X-51 to light its supersonic combustion ramjet engine and propel the WaverRider at hypersonic speed for about 5 minutes, before plunging into the Pacific Ocean. That flight test is currently planned in about two months, said Charlie Brink, X-51A program manager with the...

By Graham Warwick The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) is seeking funding in Fiscal 2011 for ArcLight, a program to flight-test a long-range, high-speed strike weapon based on the Raytheon SM-3 ballistic-missile interceptor. ArcLight will be based on an SM-3 Block II booster stack and a hypersonic glider, and designed to carry a 100-200 pound payload more than 2,000 nautical miles. The weapon will be compatible with the Mark 41 vertical launch system and capable of launch from U.S. Navy warships and submarines as well as Air Force assets. The program is getting under way in Fiscal 2010...

Those splendid brainboxes at DARPA - the Pentagon's in-house bazaar of the bizarre - have outdone themselves this time. They now plan an entirely uncrewed, automated ghost frigate able to cruise the oceans of the world for months or years on end without human input. The new project is called Anti-submarine warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), and is intended to produce "an X-ship founded on the assumption that no person steps aboard at any point in its operating cycle". The uncrewed frigate would have enough range and endurance for "global, months long deployments with no underway human maintenance", being...

The U.S. Army is sending the troops a new generation of "see-through-the-wall" devices. The Eagle series of sensors use low power ultra-wideband radio waves to detect what is behind walls (except metal ones). These devices weigh 3.5-6 pounds (there are three versions) and all are handheld. The M model can detect motion, of people or animals who are up to six meters behind a 20cm concrete wall. The P model can see into the ground (3-4 meters down) and detect objects, as well as tunnels. The V model produces sharper images, but at shorter ranges. All these devices use rechargeable...

BAE Systems has unveiled its brand new howitzer for deployment in the U.S. Army and eventually for military customers elsewhere. The next-generation howitzer is an upgraded Paladin Integrated Management vehicle in the M-109 Paladin family of vehicles, a combat-proven weapon system manufactured by BAE Systems in York, Pa. It was not immediately clear when the weapon would be marketed outside the United States, currently its major user. Previous PIM models are known to be operational with the Israeli army, and usage has been reported in Kuwait and Taiwan. Congressional representatives, community leaders and BAE employees attended a ceremony at the...

You spot an IED from a Predator or the guy on point spots it. An armored vehicle rolls up and zaps it with a laser, blowing the sucker up. No one has to don a suit or get out of a vehicle. Neat, huh? It’s not often that we’ll respond to a plain old company press release but Boeing has tested just such a laser system that looks as if it could really make a difference to troops in the field today. If it’s far enough along to actually rumble over broken terrain, fire and be maintained in the field...

PACIFIC MISSILE RANGE BARKING SANDS, Hawaii | On January 19, the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii began construction of an Advanced Radar Detection Laboratory (ARDEL) facility. The ARDEL project will test and evaluate a new radar system planned for the next generation of surface combatant vessels strengthening the U.S. Navy's ability to detect, track, and provide information required to engage ballistic missiles at greater distances than current systems in use as well as more elusive long-range air threats. The advanced technologies of the new radar incorporate various aspects of ballistic missile defense (BMD), air defense (AD),...

The U.S. military plans to develop a missile that would transport an unmanned aerial vehicle to enemy territory. The U.S. Army has drafted plans to produce a missile that could rapidly transport a micro-UAV for reconnaissance missions. Under the design, the missile would contain the UAV and eject the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, platform in mid-flight. "This information is particularly valuable since it is so current," the army said. In a Request for Proposal, the army envisioned the use of UAV missile transporters for counter-insurgency missions. Officials said the research could fulfill a need in the current U.S....

The recent Chinese missile defense test is just one of many signs that anti-ballistic missile systems are the “must have” military fashion accessory of 2010. For China the need for such weapons is obvious: the only neighbors they have who lack a real or potential short- to medium-range missile capability are Laos, Burma, and perhaps Mongolia. All of their other neighbors, especially Russia, North Korea. and India, have been building up their rocket forces at a rapid rate. For both Europe and China, any effective BMD requires space-based early warning sensors similar to the US Defense Support Program satellites based...

Unidentified hackers are running an ongoing cyber-espionage attack targeting US military contractors Booby-trapped PDF files, posing as messages from the US Department of Defense, were emailed to US defence contractors last week. The document refers to a real conference due to be held in Las Vegas in March. Opening the malicious PDF file attached to the spoofed emails triggers an attempt to exploit an Adobe Reader vulnerability only patched by the software firm last Tuesday (12 January). The infection of vulnerable systems opens up a backdoor that connects to a server hosted in Taiwan, though the hackers who set up...

The U.S. media suspects China and India of developing anti-satellite weapons. An article to this effect has been published the New Scientist magazine. Until recently, only the Soviet Union, its legal successor Russia and the United States were capable of developing anti-satellite weapons. U.S. analysts now think that China and India are acquiring similar capabilities. To what extent are such fears justified? It is hard to overestimate the role played by military satellite systems. Since the 1970s, an increasingly greater number of troop-control, telecommunications, target-acquisition, navigation and other processes depend on spacecraft which are therefore becoming more important. At this...

Alexander's men wore linothorax, a highly effective type of body armor created by laminating together layers of linen, research finds. A Kevlar-like armor might have helped Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.) conquer nearly the entirety of the known world in little more than two decades, according to new reconstructive archaeology research. Presented at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Anaheim, Calif., the study suggests that Alexander and his soldiers protected themselves with linothorax, a type of body armor made by laminating together layers of linen. "While we know quite a lot about ancient armor made from...

In early 2008, when the United States Navy used a missile launched from a guided missile cruiser to shoot down a failed American reconnaissance satellite, many people in the United States and around the world interpreted it as a response to the Chinese test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon a year before. Although the US government went out of its way to assert that the action was entirely prompted by concern that toxins in the satellite could reach a populated area, it is certain that, during the weeks leading up to the shootdown, officials in the government debated the political...

The U.S. Air Force has demonstrated the capabilities of its new F-22 in operations in the Middle East. The Air Force concluded its first deployment of the F-22A Raptors in the Middle East. Officials said the F-22s were demonstrated in a combat air exercise in the United Arab Emirates that took place in early December 2009. "This was historic because it's a new weapon system, and although we had shown we can deploy to other places, we hadn't proven we could operate here," Maj. Daniel Bunts, an F-22 pilot, said. The UAE exercise included six Raptors from the U.S. Air...