HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE — The first two of 20 F-22 Raptor fighters — the Air Force's most advanced weapons system — are expected to arrive in Hawai'i in June 2010.

Lt. Col. Christopher "Frenchy" Faurot, a Hawai'i Air National Guard pilot and head of the F-22 "beddown" program here, yesterday said he's looking forward to that date.

"It's nothing short of amazing, to tell you the truth," said Faurot, 42, and a Damien Memorial School graduate, of the Raptor.

The stealth fighters, which will replace aging F-15 Eagles at Hickam, can reach supersonic speed without afterburners, are highly maneuverable and are almost invisible to radar.

"This airplane is about twice the size of an F-16 (Fighting Falcon) and can turn inside an F-16 with no problem," said Jim Conlin, a representative of the plane's maker, Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed this week brought a $1.5 million F-22 cockpit simulator to the headquarters of the Hawai'i Air National Guard's 199th Fighter Squadron.

The cost of an F-22 is $137.5 million, Lockheed said.

The Air Force wants more than the 183 Raptors budgeted, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been critical of the costly jets, saying the U.S. military needs to be more focused on the type of asymmetrical guerrilla warfare that is taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than overly expensive technology like the F-22s.

Others have argued that more of the jets are needed to counter fighters from countries such as Russia and China.

The 199th Fighter Squadron will be the only "associate" F-22 unit in the nation to be led by the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve. Other squadrons will have Air National Guard or Reserve assistance, but active-duty units will be in the lead.

Faurot said he anticipates about 400 to 500 Hawai'i Air National Guard personnel will be part of the program, along with about 100 active-duty Air Force airmen.

A 2007 environmental review said $146.4 million in construction projects would be needed to accommodate the Raptors at Hickam, and would begin in 2009.

Yesterday in the cockpit simulator, Maj. Jim Sage did a couple of rolls in the F-22 before chasing some Su-27 and MiG 29 fighters, firing heat-seeking missiles and a 20 mm gun.

Three large screens showed a snowy and mountainous landscape below.

"We want to have the first look, be able to see these guys first before they see us, and take the first shot. Shoot them before they shoot us," Faurot said.

The F-22s are expected to have a greater worldwide mission than the F-15s, which have been in use in Hawai'i since 1987.

The Hawai'i Guard F-15s, in addition to having an air defense role for Hawai'i, deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2000 and conducted combat missions over southern Iraq.

Model A through D F-15s worldwide, including Hawai'i's 20 A, B, C and D versions, were grounded several times between early November and December after a Missouri Air National Guard F-15C broke apart on Nov. 2.

Operational Raptor squadrons are at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, and Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, officials said.