Virginia lawmakers are urging the US Air Force (USAF) to station the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor flight and maintenance formal training units (FTUs) at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, from its home at Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB), Florida.
In a 14 February letter to USAF Secretary Heather Wilson, the lawmakers said the service is underutilising the base’s airspace and investment in ramp, hangar, and operation support facilities as it houses two F-22 squadrons while being built for three. They said moving this FTU to Joint Base Langley-Eustis would also provide a great opportunity to train with other fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft in the region.
Virginia lawmakers are lobbying the USAF to move a F-22 training unit to Joint Base Langley-Eustis from its home at Tyndall AFB. Tyndall AFB suffered much damage from a hurricane and some believe F-22s are too valuable to station in US "Hurricane Alley". (Lockheed Martin)
The move would also improve availability rates, according to the lawmakers.
“Moving the F-22 FTU to Langley would advance one of the recommendations put forward by the Government Accountability Office regarding F-22 organisation: the need for consolidating the fleet into larger squadrons and/or wings in order to improve aircraft availability,” they said.
The USAF announced in December that it would study a new location for the F-22 FTU after its Tyndall AFB home was badly damaged by an October hurricane. The unit is temporarily based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
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