The F/A-22 Raptor passed the 400-flight-hour mark here recently. Since the summer of 1998, the Edwards F/A-22 Combined Test Force has flown two aircraft during 183 evaluation missions. Raptors 4001 and 4002 have meet four out of five Department of Defense flight-test...

Raptor 4002 passed its 300th flight-hour mark sortie from the Air Force's Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Cal. The F/A-22 fleet is expected to grow in the coming weeks, as Raptor 4003 makes it maiden flight from Lockheed Martin's facility in Marietta, Ga., before joining...

The F/A-22 Raptor on its first test flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. [Courtesy photo]

Raptor 4001 completes its 300th flight hour here with Lockheed Martin test pilot Paul Metz at the controls. [U.S. Air Force photo by Judson Brohmer]

F/A-22 Raptor 4002 fires an AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile during a separation test at 40,000 feet. Flown at a 26-degree angle-of-attack at only Mach .4 speed, the test flight demonstrated the Raptor's ability to operate at slow speeds in a combat environment and still...

The F/A-22 Raptor, developed at Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the replacement for the F-15 Eagle air-superiority fighter and will become operational this century. It combines stealth design with the supersonic, highly maneuverable,...

The application of advanced avionics software in the F/A-22 is key to the Raptor's revolutionary performance advantage over any other fighter. In the air-to-air arena, the stealthy F/A-22 will be virtually unseen on radar, while its sophisticated array of sensors and advanced...

An AIM-9 Sidewinder missile successfully launches from an F/A-22 Raptor during a launch test. The major milestone test evaluated the next-generation fighter's ability to fire an air-to-air missile from an internal weapons bay. Its primary air-to-air role, the F/A-22 will carry...

F/A-22 Raptor 4002 fires an AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile during a separation test at 40,000 feet. Flown at a 26-degree angle-of-attack at only Mach .4 speed, the test flight demonstrated the Raptor's ability to operate at slow speeds in a combat environment and still...