Twelve F-22 Raptors from the 95th Fighter Squadron, with approximately 220 Airmen from Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. completed a month-long deployment to RAF Lakenheath on May 8 2016. This deployment was the largest Raptor deployment in Europe to date and is part of their Global Response Force training.

Last year in august on there first deployment four F-22 Raptors visiting Germany, Poland and Lithuania.

The first four F-22s arrived at RAF Lakenheath on 11 April and a further four on 12 April, and the last four on 16 April. After arriving at RAF Lakenheath, the Raptors visited Lithuania and Romania and participated and participated in the commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Lafayette Escadrille in Paris.

"The F-22 Raptor brings truly revolutionary capabilities to the battlefield. It's stealth, it's super cruise," 95th Fighter Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Daniel Lehoski said. "The avionics provide the pilots with unprecedented information truly give it an unfair advantage in a combat environment, and it's important to show our NATO allies that we can bring that capability."

95 Fighter squadron,

The 95th FS, proudly nicknamed the "Boneheads," activated in early 1942 flying the P-38 Lightning, supporting the Allied invasions of North Africa and Italy. The squadron performed aerial combat and support, winning two Distinguished Unit Citations during attacks on the Italian peninsula. By the end of World War II, the 95th FS tallied more than 400 total victories, including 199 air-to-air kills and honoured seven aces.

During the post-war period, the squadron was assigned to Alaskan Air Command, flying the P-51 Mustang. The squadron was responsible for defending the U.S. northern territories and patrolling the Aleutian Island Chain. In the fall of 1959, the 95th FS was reassigned to defending Washington D.C. and the National Capitol Region. The Boneheads assumed 24-hour alert status supporting North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), specifically to count the threat of strategic bomber attacks. Armed with the world's fastest interceptor, the F-106 Delta Dart.

The squadron was reassigned to Tyndall Air Force Base on Aug. 15, 1974, as the 95th Fighter Interceptor Training Squadron flying the T-33 Thunderbird. The Boneheads joined the Checkertails of the 325th Fighter Weapons Wing in 1981 and were once again redesignated, this time as the 95th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron on April 1, 1988, trading in their T-33's for the F-15 Eagle. Finally, the squadron was renamed the 95th Fighter Squadron on Nov. 1, 1991 as part of the conversion to Air Education Training Command. During this period the Boneheads provided initial pilot training in the F-15 Eagle, as well as conversion and recurrence checkouts for experienced pilots.

At the turn of the millennium, the Boneheads continued to provide air superiority training in the F-15 Eagle at Tyndall. The force structure of the Combat Air Forces changed as Air Force leadership was faced with the demands of a Global War on Terrorism and a shrinking Air Force budget. With the F-15 Eagle fleet aging rapidly, the Air Force decided to retire almost all F-15 Eagle A and B models and close the F-15 Eagle training units. Thus, the 95th FS inactivated on Sept. 21, 2010. The Boneheads where again reactivated Oct. 11, 2013 as a F-22 Raptor squadron at Tyndall, Florida.
 

Exercise 'Rapid Raptor'

The F-22 Raptor deployment is part of the European Reassurance Initiative, which provides support to bolster the security of NATO allies and partners in Europe. It also proves the capability of 5th-generation fighters to deploy successfully to European bases, while affording the pilots the opportunity to familiarize themselves on training and flying within Europe.

While deployed air RAF Lakenheath the F-22 Raptors, worked alongside RAF Typhoons and F-15C and F-15E Eagle aircraft from the 48th FW.
Hereby, the Airmen were able to integrate and practice manoeuvres in an austere environment much different from their home station in the "sunshine state" . Sending the F-22 Raptors into Low Fly Area 7 [Mach Loop in Wales] was an opportunity for their low-altitude qualified pilots to see first-hand, the amazing training opportunities we have in the United Kingdom. The training ranges and low flying airspace here are some of the best in the world and give some photographers the opportunity to picture a F-22 Raptor down the valley.

This combined training gave both sides the opportunity to refine their mission sets, and get their integration standards and tactics, techniques and procedures squared away, so they can train to the reality of what they will use when we go into combat zones and work as an integrated force.

The F-22 Raptor's forward deployed to Lithuania and Romania to maximize training opportunities and demonstrate the United States commitment to NATO allies. The intent of the exercise was to show the capabilities of 'rapid raptors' by taking two F-22 Raptor's to Lithuania and Romania, along with our support assets on a tanker, and being able to go anywhere in the world with very little coordination and notice.

The deployment bolsters the security of our NATO allies and European partners, while demonstrating the U.S.'s commitment to regional and global security.
 

F-22 Raptor,

The F-22 Raptor is the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft. Its combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponential leap in warfighting capabilities. The Raptor performs both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions allowing full realization of operational concepts vital to the 21st century Air Force.

As a critical component of the Global Strike Task Force, the F-22 Raptor is designed to project air dominance, rapidly and at great distances and defeat threats before they can become a threat. The F-22 Raptor possesses a sophisticated sensor suite allowing the pilot to track, identify, shoot and kill air-to-air threats before being detected. Significant advances in cockpit design and sensor fusion improve the pilot's situational awareness. In the air-to-air configuration the Raptor carries six AIM-120 AMRAAMs and two AIM-9 Sidewinders. In recent years a air-to-ground configuration was developed enabling the aircraft to carry two 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions internally will using the on-board avionics for navigation and weapons delivery support. In the future air-to-ground capability will be enhanced with the addition of an upgraded radar and up to eight small diameter bombs. The F-22 Raptor can also carry two AIM-120s and two AIM-9s in the air-to-ground configuration.

The F-22 Raptor engines produce more thrust than any current fighter engine. The combination of sleek aerodynamic design and increased thrust allows the F-22 to cruise at supersonic airspeeds (greater than 1.5 Mach) without using afterburner a characteristic known as supercruise. Supercruise greatly expands the F-22 's operating envelope in both speed and range over current fighters, which must use fuel-consuming afterburner to operate at supersonic speeds. The sophisticated F-22 Raptor aero design, advanced flight controls, thrust vectoring, and high thrust-to-weight ratio provide the capability to outmaneuver all current and projected aircraft.

The history of the F-22 Raptor started with the Advanced Tactical Fighter entered the Demonstration and Validation phase in 1986. The prototype aircraft (YF-22 and YF-23) both completed their first flights in late 1990. Ultimately the YF-22 was selected as best of the two and the engineering and manufacturing development effort began in 1991. A low rate initial production started in 2001 and the approval for full rate production came in 2005. the high cost of producing the F-22 Raptor led to the ending off the production after only 195 Aircraft (8 test and 187 operational aircraft) far short of the original planed 750 aircraft.
 

Theater security packages,

The Air Force also recently deployed other theatre security packages  of F-15 Eagle's to Iceland and the Netherlands under Operation Atlantic Resolve. The contingent of F-15Cs and about 350 airmen from the 131st Fighter Squadron, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, and the 194th Fighter Squadron, Fresno Air National Guard Base, California, will participate in exercises through September 2016.

In the same period six F-15 Eagle's from the 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base in Oregon will fly training missions with Finnish forces as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, while being deployed to Kuopio AFB in Finland. This deployment will last until 20 May 2016.