Pulled from storage, the Raptor will help
test a variety of modifications, possibly including classified upgrades.
BY JOSEPH TREVITHICK
AUGUST 10, 2017
The U.S. Air Force may have shot down recent plans to restart production of the F-22 Raptor, but it will soon
add one more of the stealth fighters to its active fleet. The service has
pulled one the jets out of mothballs in order to expand its operational test
force as work continues to expand the capabilities of the combat-coded jets.
The Air Force confirmed to FlightGlobal that it was in the process
of rehabilitating an Raptor, with the serial number 91-4006, at Edwards Air
Force Base in California. Edwards is home to the 411th Flight Test Squadron,
which oversees the F-22 Combined Test Force (CTF).
The Raptor, which is a Block 10 aircraft, had been in
flyable storage. An Air Force spokesperson told FlightGlobal that it would take $25 million bring
the plane’s avionics up to Block 20 standards, as well as update its electrical
and hydraulics systems and flight controls.......Read rest of article: HERE
Expanding the CTF is extremely important for the future
of the F-22s, especially with no plans to restart the production line and build
new Raptors with more modern systems. Of the 187 jets that remain in service,
only 125 of them are combat ready at any one time, with the bulk of the rest
going through the upgrade or maintenance pipelines or sitting in flyable
storage.
Related post:
F-22 Raptor: Details
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