Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Raptor Drops the "A"


Well sort of. Its now F-22A. Better I guess but is it a better plane for the cost? This is from DefenseNews via Murdoc:

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.