The Lockheed Martin F/A-22 Raptor fighter aircraft has been given the green light by Department of Defense acquisition officials to enter into full-rate production.

Since firsts are meant to be memorable, it's a good bet the pilots with the 308th Fighter Squadron from Luke AFB, Ariz., won't soon forget their two-week visit at Tyndall AFB. The desert-based F-16 squadron arrived April 2 for dissimilar air combat training against F/A-22 pilots assigned to the 43rd Fighter Squadron at Tyndall.

The transformational F/A-22 Raptor has met or exceeded all technical performance parameters during a rigorous Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) by an independent U.S. Air Force agency that released its testing results today.

The F/A-22 Raptor, the Air Force's next-generation air superiority fighter, performed well in recently completed operational testing and is on track to go operational in December, the director of the program's combined test force said.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper ended two weeks of training at Tyndall AFB on January 12th, flying his qualification flight in the F/A-22 Raptor, the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft.

Commanders of units flying the F/A-22 Raptor called for a safety stand down of the fleet following a crash Dec. 20 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

Lockheed Martin rolled Raptor 4041 out of its final production assembly facility today, marking a milestone in the F/A-22 program. Aircraft 4041 is the initial F/A-22 for the Air Force's first operational, combat-ready squadron of Raptors.

The F/A-22 Raptor air dominance fighter program is producing aircraft at an ever increasing rate and is on track for 2004.

The U.S. Air Force has begun Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) of the F/A-22 Raptor air dominance fighter aircraft, an important phase of the program's overall acquisition. The F/A-22 is built by a Lockheed Martin -led industry team.

The F-22 industry team has delivered Raptor 4008 - the program's dedicated low-observable, or stealth, reliability and maintainability flight-test and evaluation aircraft - to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Raptor 08 arrived at Edwards late Friday, May 31. It is the last Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD), or developmental flight- test, aircraft to be delivered to the U.S. Air Force.

Crediting reduced costs from suppliers as a catalyst, the U.S. Air Force has exercised a contract option by awarding Lockheed Martin $117.6 million to add one F/A-22 aircraft and associated equipment to the Lot 3 Low Rate Initial Production contract awarded earlier last month.

The final F/A-22 Raptor built for developmental flight testing was flown from the company's facilities in Marietta, Ga., recently to California.

The F/A-22 Raptor flight-test program has for the first time successfully demonstrated between two Raptors the capabilities of the Intraflight Datalink (IFDL), a key component of the Raptor's avionics suite that is designed to enhance a pilot's situational awareness.

The F-22 Raptor industry team has delivered the latest integrated avionics software package - Block 3.1 - to the program's Combined Test Facility at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for flight test aboard the Raptors located there.

The F/A-22 Raptor air dominance fighter team has delivered its first aircraft - Raptor 4012 - to the U.S. Air Force's Air Warfare Center (AWFC) with the recent signing of formal acceptance documents by government officials.