The US Air Force’s (USAF’s) 94th Fighter Squadron (FS) 'Hat in the Ring' – a component of the 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis Virginia – recently broke the record for the most air-to-air missiles loaded and fired from an F-22A Raptor whilst taking part in an exercise.

The unit fired a total of 28 air-to-air missiles, valued at more than $14m, whilst at Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida back in September for Weapons System Evaluation Program (WSEP) 22-12. The unit also practised shooting the F-22’s M61A2 Vulcan – a six-barrel, 20mm rotary cannon – and advanced gunnery target systems.

These numbers make them the most successful unit to ever attend a WSEP. The previous record was made by the 90th FS 'The Dicemen' from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska back in 2014, when the unit employed 22 air-to-air missiles from the F-22.

A WSEP is a formal two-week long training exercise to test a unit’s capability to both arm and employ live armaments from its aircraft during air-to-air combat training scenarios. The 94th faced challenges during WSEP 22-12 including, less available aircraft, which was eight F-22 Raptors, less personnel and multiple first-time firing pilots but still broke the previous record.

“It basically tells the Air Force that our unit is prepared to deploy and if they did deploy us, how well we would perform compared to other squadrons," said Staff Sgt Edgar Baez-Lopez, an aircraft armament systems craftsman assigned to the 94th Fighter Generation Squadron (FGS).

The 94th FGS accompanied the 94th FS during WSEP 22-12. It is a new unit that was stood up in June 2022 by the 1st FW. It has a responsibility to complement the 94th FS via performing squadron-level maintenance and controls resources and priorities in-house. The unit is composed mostly of maintainers who make sure the unit's aircraft are ready for any scenario.