U.S. Air Force to Deploy F-22 Stealth Fighters to Guam

The U.S. Defense Department announced on Monday that it would deploy F-22 Raptor fighters to a U.S. airbase in Guam by July or August of this year. The F-22 Raptors, equipped with the most advanced stealth technology, would be responsible for covering the Korean Peninsula.

General Carrol Chandler, commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, told reporters at Pacific Command in Hawaii on May 21 that the Air Force would assign six or more F-22 Raptors now in Alaska to Guam in the future, reported several American news agencies.

Chandler hinted at a joint exercise with the Korean Air Force, saying that the expected deployment will test the swiftness of the F-22s. The exercise would be carried out in joint drills with other allies, including Japan.

The U.S. Air Force has put its first stealth fighters into active service since 2005. This Alaska-based squadron was first to be deployed outside of the U.S. mainland in August 2007.

Prior to the permanent “outing,” 12 F-22s were temporarily dispatched to Okinawa, Japan for three months earlier last year from the Langley Air Base in Virginia.

Lockheed Martin developed the stealth fighters to replace the F-15s, which constituted America’s main air power. Raptors can fly up to Mach 2.5 within a 1,200 km radius without refueling. A single F-22 cost $137.5 million in 2008.

triplets@donga.com