Air Force sending advanced fighters to Europe

WASHINGTON — The Air Force plans to send its most sophisticated warplane, the F-22 Raptor fighter, to Europe as a potential deterrent to Russian aggression, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said Monday.

The F-22 deployment comes in response to requirements from commanders in the region, James and Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh, the chief of staff, told reporters.

The Air Force will not say when the jets will arrive in Europe, but their deployment comes days after Defense Secretary Ash Carter acknowledged that Russia posed "an existential threat" to the United States because of its nuclear weapons arsenal. He did not, however, echo comments from other military leaders that Russia was the greatest threat to U.S. security.

"Vladimir Putin's Russia behaves, in many respects, as — in some respects and in very important respects, as an antagonist," Carter said. "That is new. That is something, therefore, that we need to adjust to and counter. And we're doing that in an approach that I've called strong and balanced."

James referred to Carter's approach to Russia, saying the F-22 deployment is "certainly on the strong side of the coin."

Commanders and allies in Europe have expressed interest in training with F-22s and their pilots, Welsh said. The F-22's attribute is dominating enemy fighters and defenses.

Since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine last year, and built up its forces on its western border with U.S. allies, the Pentagon has mounted a series of air, sea and land exercises in the region.

The F-22 has had a rough roll out. It dates to Cold War demands to counter Russian and Chinese fighters. But cost overruns, the declining threat from those countries in the 1990s and 2000s, and its lack of a role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan put the F-22 on the chopping block.

In 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates ended production of the fighter. It flew its first combat mission against the Islamic State last year. There are 183 of the warplanes today, according to the Air Force.

Meanwhile, regarding Iran, Welsh expressed confidence that the Air Force is confident it would be able to strike that country's nuclear facilities if called upon. A senior officer told USA TODAY last week that the Air Force could destroy about 20 of Iran's nuclear sites over a period of several days of airstrikes.

The spearhead of such an attack would be the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000-pound bomb capable of burrowing through dirt, rock and concrete to destroy deeply buried targets, the officer said.