USAF To Drop ‘A’ From F/A-22 Raptor

Three years after the U.S. Air Force added an “A” to highlight the F/A-22 Raptor’s ability to drop bombs, the service is dropping the extra letter from the stealthy jet’s designator.

The plane, which is expected to officially enter service in the coming weeks, will henceforth be called the F-22A — with the trailing letter indicating a first variant, not an extra role.

Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff, who is said to have been unhappy with the F/A-22 moniker, announced the renaming in a Dec. 12 speech to a U.S. Air National Guard senior leadership conference in Baltimore, Md.

The decision was made in a recent meeting of senior service officials, said Loren Thompson, an analyst at the Lexington Institute, who was familiar with the deliberations. The decision was unanimous among Air Force and senior Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Thompson said.

An Air Force spokesman said the renaming decision will be formally announced in coming days.

Thompson said Air Force officials were feeling a “little expansive” after the Raptor survived attacks during the QDR debates; they decided they didn’t need the extra “A” to persuade the administration and Congress to buy the airplane. •

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This is really ironic ..... this comes soon after ... an F/A-22 dropped its first guided supersonic JDAM at Edwards Air Force Base. ... demonstrating its "A" capabilities.

You don't look at the board before before you post, do you

Originally posted by waynos
You don't look at the board before before you post, do you

My apologies .... i was unaware that a thread of the same topic alredy existed ... as soon as i posted this one ... the older one resurfaced as well.

Perhaps some mod can lock/delete this thread.

[edit on 13-12-2005 by Stealth Spy]

theres a new and exciting feature , added to this very forum its called search

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