Test Talon

FILE PHOTO -- Test pilots and flight test engineers are trained in T-38As at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Air Force Materiel Command uses T-38As to test experimental equipment such as electrical and weapon systems. The Alliance agreement allows qualified NASA Dryden Flight Research Center pilots to fly particular Air Force Flight Test Center aircraft, like the T-38 Talon, and vice versa. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Sunset Raptor

FILE PHOTO -- The F/A-22 Raptor, developed at Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the replacement for the F-15 Eagle air-superiority fighter and will become operational this century. It combines stealth design with the supersonic, highly maneuverable, dual-engine, long-range requirements of an air-to-air fighter, and it also will have an inherit air-to-ground capability, if needed. The F/A-22's integrated avionics gives it first-look, first-shot, first-kill capability that will guarantee U.S. air dominance for the next three decades. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kevin Robertson)