While on deployment to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., a 108th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker refuels an F-22 Raptor. The F-22 Raptor test program has been labeled the second most important mission in the Air Force according to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. The Air Refueling aspect has been labeled the “backbone” of the F-22 program according to the 411th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards. On a typical mission lasting three hours the F-22 and the chase plane requires 80,000 pounds of fuel to complete their full array of tests including high g maneuvers, supersonic runs, and weapons system tests. Photo courtesy Master Sgt. Thomas Miller, 108th Air Refueling Wing.