Five 
years after standing up, Air Force Reserve Command’s 477th Fighter Group at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, is now fully capable of executing its combat mission, announced group officials. “Fully operation[ally] capable means that we are ready and able to execute our wartime tasking,” said Col. Bryan Radliff, 477th FG commander, who announced the milestone to the group’s airmen on Sept. 9. The group cooperates with Elmendorf’s Active Duty 3rd Wing to operate and maintain the base’s two squadrons of combat-coded F-22s. The 477th FG was activated at Elmendorf in October 2007, becoming the Air Force’s first Reserve F-22 unit and the only AFRC unit in Alaska. In September of the following year, the group, along with the 3rd Wing, attained the capability to assume initial F-22 operations. The 477th FG traces its heritage back to the Tuskegee Airmen’s 477th Bombardment Group of World War II. (Elmendorf report by Capt. Ashley Conner)
Expanded production of the B-21 bomber can be accomplished at Northrop Grumman's existing Palmdale, Calif., facilities, the Air Force said. It also said test aircraft will be so simular to the production version that early examples could be used in combat if called for.