U.S Air Force F-22 Single-Ship Demo Team Reduction
In a statement posted 1 December 2011, officials at Air Combat Command headquarters at Langley AFB, Virginia, announced that because of sigificant budget constraints, only the F-22 single-ship demonstration team will fly at airshows in 2012.
This is down from the six single-ship teams the US Air Force combatant command had historically sponsored. For 2012, the F-22 demonstration team will perform at up to twenty airshows. In addition to the F-22 demo team, the Thunderbirds will fly a full show season in 2012.
Reducing the number of single-ship demonstration teams, which included two F-16 teams, will allow ACC to reallocate more than 900 sorties to operational wings for training and provide an increase of more than twenty-five combat-ready fighter pilots.
Source: 1 December 2011 - Code One News (www.codeonemagazine.com)
Photo: U.S Air Force F-22 single-ship demonstration team (Photo by Scott Knuteson / codeonemagazine.com)
(1.12.2011)
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