Joint Base Langley-Eustis cemented its role as the premier base for the Air Force’s most advanced fighter. A $45 million, 76,000-square-foot hangar for the F-22A Raptor opened April 18, according to an Air Force release.
Langley became the only training hub for the Air Force’s most advanced fighter after a 2018 hurricane in Florida devastated Tyndall Air Force Base. Hurricane Michael caused $5 billion in damage to the base.
“I’m proud of the collective effort and partnerships involved in completing such a complex project,” said Judy Biddle, execution branch chief at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Special Programs Division.
In 2021, the Air Force made the decision to permanently relocate 16 additional F-22A’s from Florida to Langley. Construction to expand the base's facilities began in 2023. Along with the six-bay hangar, the Air Force is building a repair building and a support facility for 92 full-time staff. Langley is now the only training site for F-22 pilots.
“Completing construction of the hangar and turning it over to the base represents a significant construction milestone. It provides much needed maintenance space for the 1st Fighter Wing and their F-22 squadrons,” said Col. Rob Bartlow, Air Force Civil Engineering Center, special programs division chief.
The new hangar is built on the former site of one of the base’s oldest hangars, originally built in 1932. In 2005, Langley was the first airbase in the country to receive the Raptor. 1st Fighter Wing operations, roughly a third of the roughly 180 F-22As in service, with 1,200 pilots and more than $7 billion worth of aircraft.
A number of Raptors from Langley were positioned in southern Israel during the early days of Operation Epic Fury as the United States attacked facilities inside Iran.
