HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE — B-52 bombers — one of the oldest combat aircraft in use by the Air Force, first flying in 1952 — this week are flying two sorties a day from Guam to drop dummy bombs at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.

Around July or August, a half-dozen or more stealthy F-22A Raptor fighters from the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, will deploy to Guam for training as the Air Force moves forward with plans to base three of seven Raptor squadrons in the Pacific.

One of those squadrons, with 20 aircraft, will be based at Hickam beginning in 2010. Two others will be in Alaska.

Six months into the job as head of Pacific Air Forces, Gen. Carrol H. "Howie" Chandler is juggling budget pressures, the need to recapitalize an aging Air Force inventory, and war demands in Iraq and Afghanistan versus needs in a Pacific region growing in foreign military might and prosperity.

With a budget of about $2.2 billion in the Pacific, Chandler said yesterday that "we're in better shape this year than we were last year," particularly in areas such as base operating support.

"(But) next year is looking not as good, to be honest about it," he said.

Speaking to reporters, Chandler said he's been an advocate for increasing the size of squadrons on the Korean Peninsula.

"We'll see how I do in the budget battles," Chandler said, adding he'll be heading to Washington in about a week for a budget summit.

"I think what we're doing is looking at the new weapons systems and looking at where we want to do our recapitalization and modernization first, and the Pacific is getting a priority," Chandler said.

Air Force Times reported last week that the House Armed Services Committee's fiscal 2009 defense budget approved funding for Air Force priorities such as more F-22 Raptors, C-17 and C-130J cargo aircraft, and startup funding for the KC-45 tanker program.

But the Times said the committee denied an Air Force request for 14,000 more airmen as the service looks at a planned drawdown to 316,771 personnel.

Chandler said two squadrons of aging F-15 Eagle fighters at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa in Japan may be replaced with the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is supposed to come on line in 2013 or 2014.

Japan is the "keystone" to the U.S. relationships in the western Pacific, Chandler said, adding, "I don't see moving out of Kadena anytime in the near future."

China is growing economically and militarily, and Pacific Air Forces will continue efforts to engage the country to prevent potential misunderstandings, Chandler said.

Two C-17 cargo carriers from Hickam recently delivered relief supplies to China following the May 12 earthquake, and a third C-17 out of Washington state brought search and rescue equipment.

Four exchanges bringing Chinese military personnel to the U.S. are planned, and Chandler said he'd like to visit China, as did his predecessor at Pacific Air Forces, Gen. Paul Hester.

"We're seeing more activity in terms of engagement," Chandler said. "What comes out of that remains to be seen."