The U.S. Air Force plans to fly an undisclosed number of F-22 Raptor fighters when the military service trains with U.S.’ allies in Europe, Defense News reported Monday.
Aaron Mehta writes the deployment will mark as the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft’s inaugural flight to Europe and will form part of the Defense Department-led European Reassurance Initiative.
“Rotational forces and training exercises help us maintain our strong and balanced approach, and we will certainly be continuing those in the future,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James was quoted as saying.
“For the Air Force, an F-22 deployment is certainly on the strong side of the coin.”
The U.S. works with other NATO member countries under the European Reassurance Initiative to deter Russia’s military aggression in the region.
