F‑22 Raptor’s Explosive 2025: Combat Missions, Big Upgrades & a New Lease on Life
In June 2025, F-22 Raptors from the 1st Fighter Wing deployed from Langley AFB to the Middle East as part of Operation Midnight Hammer, joining a strike package of 125 U.S. aircraft including B-2 bombers dropping 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz, marking the Raptor’s first direct strikes against a nation-state. On July 8, 2025, a USAF KC-46A Pegasus tanker suffered a mid-air refueling boom separation while refueling F-22s off the U.S. East Coast, the F-22 returning safely with no damage, and it was the second such KC-46 boom detachment in a year. In January 2025 Lockheed Martin