US to fly top-of-line F-22 fighter often from Guam

MARIETTA, Georgia, Aug 4 (Reuters) The top U S fighter aircraft, the F-22 Raptor, will operate frequently from the Pacific island of Guam in coming years, a top general has said as Washington counters China's military build-up with enhanced U S firepower in the region.

Air Force Gen. Paul Hester, commander of U S Pacific Air Forces yesterday, said Guam's Anderson Air Force Base would be host to an early tour of F-22s from a squadron of 18 to be delivered to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, by January 2008.

''We will have them rotate into Guam on a frequent basis,'' probably starting by mid 2008, Hester said at a ceremony at the assembly plant where the first F-22 to be assigned to the Pacific Command was being put together.

Guam is a U S territory 3,400 miles southwest of Hawaii and about 1,800 miles from China's coast.

The Raptor, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., ''stands as a continued modernization effort against those countries who are also modernising their forces,'' Hester told reporters in response to a question about China after the ceremony. ''And thus it provides stability in the Pacific region.'' Plans for the buildup of U.S. forces in the Pacific were spelled out in a Pentagon strategy review published in February.

The Defense Department said it would put 60 percent of the Navy's attack-submarine fleet in the Pacific in the coming decade, up from 50 per cent, along with six aircraft carrier groups to support ''engagement, presence and deterrence.'' The United States already maintains a rotating presence in Guam of B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers as part of a new U.S. ''hedge'' strategy designed to prepare for any conflict with China.

The United States is also concerned about North Korea's nuclear ambitions and missile development.

Flying the F-22 from Guam, the Air Force will be able to test ''ideas of how we would operate away from home station in Elmendorf,'' Hester said, adding he expected the aircraft to take part in joint exercises with Japan and Australia.

Three of the seven operational F-22 squadrons will be based in the Pacific, two at Elmendorf and one at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, Hester said.

The 18 bound for Hickam would arrive in 2010 or 2011, the last of seven projected combat-ready squadrons, he said.

The other four squadrons are expected to be divided between Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, and Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

REUTERS VJ RS0811