Those pesky F-22s

They don't arrive on time. They don't leave on time.

Technical issues delay Raptors leaving Japan
The Associated Press

TOKYO — Two of the newest — and most expensive — fighters in the Air Force wrapped up a three-month deployment and roared out of Japanese skies Thursday, completing the F-22 stealth fighter's debut on the international stage.

The planes, the last of a dozen F-22s on the deployment, left the southern Japanese island of Okinawa several hours later than the rest because of "maintenance concerns," the Air Force said in a statement from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.

The statement did not elaborate on what the problems were.

It said after a complete check, the planes were approved to leave Kadena and move to "another location in the Pacific region." The first 10 F-22s departed Kadena on schedule before dawn Thursday for their home at Langley Air Force Base, Va.

Otherwise, F-22s are just grrrrrrreat!

Honestly, with the stealth coatings on their wings, F-22s are probably the most delicate and hard-to-maintain fighters around.

As to what Japan should be doing in cooperation with the United States and the ROK with the 203 F-15s Japan already has in its possession, a post from the Defense Tech golden age.