6 U.S. stealth fighters leave Kadena Air Base in Okinawa+

NAHA, Japan, April 19 Kyodo -
Six U.S. F-22A Raptor stealth fighters took off from the U.S. Kadena Air Base
in Okinawa on Sunday morning after completing their three-month deployment in
support of the U.S. Pacific Command's security obligations in the Western
Pacific.

The state-of-the-art fighters from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia headed
back to the United States after taking part in joint exercises with F-15
fighters stationed at Kadena as well as with the Japanese Air Self-Defense
Force's F-15 jets.
The remaining six F-22A fighters at the Kadena base are scheduled to leave Monday.
The dozen fighters had arrived at the U.S. base in Japan's southernmost
prefecture in two batches in January for the second such deployment, following
the first assignment in 2007.
The F-22A Raptor, successor to the F-15 fighter, is a stealth fighter that can
avoid enemy detection, cruise at supersonic speeds and is highly maneuverable.
The ASDF was considering the F-22A as Japan's next-generation mainstay striker,
but the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama indicated earlier this
month that it plans to end production of the fighter jet as part of a review of
the Pentagon's spending priorities.
==Kyodo