F-22 Raptor, now grounded by the U.S Air Force
The U.S. Air Force fleet of stealth F-22 Raptor fighter jets, which has never seen combat despite costing the U.S. government nearly $80 billion, has now been grounded indefinitely. The order came down from the Air Force's Air Combat Command Tuesday due to "recent reports of potential oxygen system malfunctions. The stand-down provides Air Force officials the opportunity to investigate the reports and ensure crews are able to safely accomplish their missions. The grounding comes just days after a rare video surfaced featuring a flight by one of the F-22s closest potential air rivals, the Chinese J-20 stealth fighter. For U.S. forces in each of America's three current major combat operations, having the F-22s sitting on the sidelines will not make much of a difference -- other than training and patrol operations, that's where they've been since the first of the expensive planes went combat ready in December 2005.
Source: ABC News
The AirplaneNut
