A Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 Raptor takes flight during exercise Sentry Aloha at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, on Jan. 27, 2026. (Mysti Bicoy/U.S. Air National Guard)
The Hawaii Air National Guard is moving forward with construction projects to fully integrate seven stealth fighters transferred from Florida in the wake of a 2018 storm.
Hurricane Michael left Tyndall Air Force Base on the Florida panhandle so badly damaged that it was no longer capable of hosting the F-22 Raptors.
The 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall was deactivated and its jets were sent to other F-22 squadrons in Hawaii, Alaska and Virginia.
Seven Raptors went to the 199th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, bringing the F-22 total there to 24.
The Air Force has since determined that operational readiness would be better maintained if the Tyndall jets were permanently consolidated into the three squadrons.
The Hawaii Air National Guard issued a draft environmental assessment last month that determined no significant impact would result from changes made to the joint base to permanently host the Raptors.
The F-22 plus-up will add roughly 150 more pilots and support personnel, according to the assessment. The estimated number of annual F-22 sorties will rise by 405, a 14.7 percent increase.
Among the seven planned construction and remodeling projects is the conversion of a corrosion control facility for F-15 jets into an F-22 paint facility. That remodel is slated for completion this summer, according to a statement emailed Tuesday by the Hawaii Air National Guard.
A pair of munitions projects are in final design review, with construction solicitations expected in May and June, the statement said. Groundbreaking is expected between this fall and spring 2027.
The assessment concluded that the additional fighters could increase noise but to a negligible extent.
“Runway utilization, flight tracks, flight track utilization, and day/night flight distribution for proposed F-22A aircraft would be identical to existing F-22 operations,” the assessment said. Thus, the “noise contours” would be nearly identical to the existing conditions.
