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HAMPTON — — It isn't exactly a fair fight, but the Air Force doesn't mind. This week, U.S. fighter jets are dueling about 90 miles off the coast of Hampton Roads in scenarios that pit F-22 Raptors from Langley Air Force Base against older F-16C fighters visiting from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

A senior U.S. military intelligence official confirmed that China will be capable of deploying an advanced fifth generation fighter comparable to the U.S. F-22 within eight years, years ahead of previous Pentagon assessments. “We're anticipating China to have a fifth-generation fighter ... operational right around 2018," said Wayne Ulman of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. He made the comments before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on May 20. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, in defending his decision to end production of the F-22, stated last year that China "is projected to have no fifth-generation aircraft by...

Fifteen F-22 Raptors are scheduled to deploy to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in January 2010 for approximately three months. The fighters and associated personnel will deploy from the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. The deployment supports U.S. Pacific Command's theater security packages in the Western Pacific and follows the recent departure from the theater of two deployed squadrons of F-22s that also were supporting U.S. PACOM's TSP. The fighters and personnel deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, and Kadena Air Base, Japan, completed their redeployment in October 2009. The F-22 is a transformational combat aircraft that can avoid...

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — F-22 Raptors from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia were scheduled to arrive Saturday at Kadena, according to the Air Force. The supersonic fighters are part of two squadrons the Air Force has deployed for four months in support security throughout the Western Pacific region, a news release said. About 12 Raptors from the 94th Fighter Squadron will train on Okinawa, the release said. Another dozen Raptors from the 525th Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska deployed to Guam on May 13, the release said. While training on Okinawa, the Raptors will observe...

This is an animated video of the Merlin falcon and it’s song. This is created to give you a close up view and the Merlin falcon singing its song.

An injured hawk owes its life to a man in Connecticut. Nick Skoloski spotted this injured red tailed hawk on the side of a busy road on Friday. He pulled over to help the grounded bird, running across the highway and stopping traffic to do it! Doctors at the Suffield Veterinarian Hospital said they would do what they could to mend the bird's wing and get it back into the air as soon as possible

Specialty breed - Members of the Northwest roller club are accused of killing birds of prey, some endangeredShowing a visitor through the Hillsboro shelters where he raises "roller" pigeons, Ivan Hanchett described how he trapped hawks so they wouldn't bother his precious flock. He suffocated the hawks in garbage bags, he said, and put them in the trash, noting he had "never seen a hawk that could hold its breath more than three seconds." Hanchett went on: Oregon aficionados of the roller pigeon -- a special breed flown in competitions -- commonly capture and kill hawks and falcons that attack...

Pigeon Fans Charged in Deaths of Raptors ASSOCIATED PRESS May 25, 2007 LOS ANGELES – Pigeon fanciers in California and two other states were accused of shooting, clubbing and gassing federally protected hawks and falcons, authorities said yesterday. A 14-month undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service led to charges being filed against a Texas man on Wednesday, three Oregon men on Monday and seven Southern California men earlier this month. The men were accused of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by taking or attempting to take a protected bird. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of...

The F-22 Raptor fighter jet, the United States Air Force’s most expensive weapon, is designed for global air dominance. But its biggest battles have not been in the skies, but in the corridors of power in Washington, where it has just taken on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Washington budget-cutters — and won. But their efforts were rebuffed this week by the powerful F-22 lobby, a combination of the Air Force, Lockheed Martin, which makes the fighter jet, and their allies in Congress. The Senate is scheduled to vote this week on the $447 billion Pentagon budget for 2007,...

Air Force Slates F-117 And B-52 For Cuts F-22 Raptors The Air Force wants to retire the entire F-117 stealth fighter fleet by 2008 and cut the fleet of B-52 bombers in half, but increase the buy of its cherished F-22 fighter from 179 to 183 aircraft. Program Budget Decision 720, the "Air Force Transformation Flight Plan," outlines the service's plan to save more than $21 billion between 2007 and 2011 and direct that money into programs that make the Air Force a "more lethal, more agile, streamlined force with an increased emphasis on the warfighter."

Eric Williams was showing off a beautiful leather jacket in the Raptors' dressing room at the Air Canada Centre on Monday, a jacket packed with colourful logos from a series of basketball teams, including the Newark Eagles, Harlem Knights, Baltimore Crabs, West Philly Dancers and Cleveland Ebonies, the latter complete with a nattily attired fellow in a 1920's-style zoot suit. His company, Eric Williams Apparel, was hoping to launch a line of merchandise celebrating what he called "Black League Basketball," he explained, adding the jacket was a prototype, something to bring the league, which he said existed from 1920-40, into...

Scientists Band Baby Peregrine Falcons By JUSTIN M. NORTON, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO - A group of baby falcons growing up on the 33rd-floor ledge of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s downtown headquarters were banded Wednesday, a procedure that will allow scientists to track and monitor the peregrines. The banding was completed without problems in 15 minutes. "They kind of looked at us like 'what are you doing here' and they talked a bit. But they stayed in place," said Brian Swanson, a utility spokesman. The peregrines are the offspring of adult falcons George and Gracie. The pair first...

New York -- There are one to three eggs in the nest with the posh Manhattan address, and chicks are expected to hatch within the next two weeks, according to avid bird-watchers who monitor the nest daily and report the activity on the Internet. The nest is at 927 Fifth Ave. -- 12th floor, above the cornice -- and the residents are Pale Male and Lola, the red-tailed hawks whose highly publicized eviction in December sent feathers flying among urban naturalists. "We've transitioned from a Christmas story to a spring awakening," said E. J. McAdams, executive director of the New...

<p>Whenever there is a discussion of energy policy, many environmentalists and their political allies tout wind power as an alternative to burning fossil fuels. Even if electricity from wind power is more expensive than conventional fuel sources, and it is, wind advocates argue its environmental benefits are worth it. In particular, proponents claim increased reliance on wind power would reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.</p>

Cracking open the facts on birds and banned pesticides "A dupe of the radical Greens!" "A disingenuous corporate stooge!" What could provoke such contradictory ad hominem attacks on your humble science correspondent? My simple observation in last week's column on the 30th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act: "It is generally acknowledged that banning DDT, which thinned bird's eggshells, brought back the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, and the brown pelican." The controversy over the pesticide DDT and bird eggshell thinning is still going strong more than 30 years after the pesticide was banned in the United States. DDT and...

Lockheed Martin hopes to exploit a seeming contradiction in concepts to expand the combat effectiveness of low-observable aircraftBy David A. Fulghum, Orlando, Fla.Lockheed Martin is planning a demonstration of advanced capabilities for the F/A-22 Raptor stealth fighter and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter beginning in November on a test range near Edwards AFB, Calif. These experiments are designed to show that a single F/A-22 can control four unmanned aircraft, that a limited jamming capability can be shared among stealth aircraft to create an offensive weapon and that F/A-22s will team with F-117s for 24-hr. stealth operations.These demonstrations are to be offered...