“Rapid Raptor” Program Enables F-22 First Strike Anywhere in World — in 24hrs

Video Above: B-1B Hypersonic Weapons Bay

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

*A top Warrior Maven article. Republishing for viewer interest

(Washington, D.C.) The Air Force is strengthening its “Rapid Raptor” program designed to fast-track four F-22s to war – anywhere in the world – within 24 hours, on a moments notice, should there be an immediate need for attacks in today’s pressured, fast-moving global threat environment.

Rapid Raptor Software and Support

The program, in existence for several years, prepares four F-22s with the requisite crew members, C-17 support, fuel, maintenance and weapons necessary to execute a fast-attack “first-strike” ability in remote or austere parts of the world, Air Force officials say.

Readiness for the F-22, senior Air Force officials explain, hinges upon a new software delivery strategy which sees incremental improvements less as “products” for pre-planned, spread apart adjustments — but rather a steady continuous “pipeline” of upgrades.

“When it comes to software, none of the old rules apply. It is a service and a pipeline today. We have to develop software differently. With the F-22, there has been a shift from a traditional acquisition program into a continuous stream of delivery,” William Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, told an audience at an Air Force Association Symposium.