An F-22 assigned to the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 199th Fighter Squadron sustained $1.8 million in damage in a landing incident at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam last week, reported CBS News. The mishap occurred on Dec. 7 as the Raptor was returning to Hickam from a training exercise after taking part with other Hickam F-22s in a ceremonial flyover during a remembrance ceremony at Pearl Harbor on the 71st anniversary of Japan’s surprise attack, according to the report. The F-22 damaged both of its horizontal stabilizers when it scraped its tail on the runway upon landing, states the report. The pilot did not suffer any injuries. The Air Force is investigating the cause of the accident.
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…