Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 Raptors have engaged in combat in Iraq and Syria, dropping bombs on Islamic State targets while occasionally dodging Russian fighters, the Air Force said last week.

More than 200 pilots and maintenance personnel from the Hawaii Guard and active Air Force at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, along with an undisclosed number of aircraft, arrived in the region Oct. 1, Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony, a Hawaii National Guard spokesman, said Monday.

Air Force Capt. Ashley Walker, public affairs chief of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, to which the Hawaii fighters report, noted it is the first operational deployment for the state’s Raptors.

“We have conducted a lot of training prior to this deployment to ensure our operations are carried out with extraordinary care and precision,” Walker said in an email. “We have already conducted combat strikes against Daesh (another term for Islamic State), and our airmen are doing a superb job supporting Iraqi ground operations, denying the enemy safe haven.”

The Hawaii Raptors are the only F-22s in the theater, Anthony said. F-22 units have been dispatched on rotational duty from around the country to support Operation Inherent Resolve.

F-22s in the region have flown out of Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, but the Hawaii Air Guard and Air Force as a whole do not talk about where the planes are based, citing host-nation sensitivities.

The Hawaii Raptors and other U.S. and coalition aircraft have had the additional worry of sharing Syrian airspace — sometimes in close proximity — with Russian fighters attacking Islamic State and other groups and flying in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

A Hawaii F-22 and a Russian jet were observed on intersecting flight paths earlier this month.

On Oct. 20 the Pentagon announced a “memorandum of understanding” with the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding measures to minimize the risk of in-flight incidents in Syrian airspace after aircraft came as close as 500 feet.

“The MOU includes specific safety protocols for air crews to follow,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said at the time. “These protocols include maintaining professional airmanship at all times, the use of specific communication frequencies and the establishment of a communication line on the ground.”

The discussions do not amount to U.S. cooperation or support for Russia’s policies or actions in Syria, he also noted.

“In fact, far from it,” Cook said. “We continue to believe that Russia’s strategy in Syria is counterproductive.”

Walker said that despite Russia’s role, “we are continuing to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned by the Combined Air Operations Center in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy Daesh. Our pilots are highly skilled and they will always ensure safety of the skies. We are continuing our operations in Syria.”

The stealthy F-22 was designed for air-to-air combat and precision strikes against highly defended ground targets, but the high-tech fighter has had success in Iraq and Syria dropping munitions including GBU-39 small-diameter bombs. Raptors can carry eight of the 250-pound glide bombs, which are accurate from long distances.

Coalition nations conducting airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Pentagon.

The U.S. Air Force alone has flown the F-22, B-1 bomber, F-15 Strike Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and A-10 Thunderbolt in Operation Inherent Resolve attack missions.

Russia on Monday said it flew 59 sorties in Syria engaging 94 terrorist targets over a 24-hour period. The United States said it and coalition partners conducted 15 airstrikes in Iraq.

As of Sept. 15 the cost of operations mounted against Islamic State since August 2014 totaled $4 billion, with the average daily cost at $10 million, the Pentagon said.

In 2010 the Hawaii Air Guard’s 199th Fighter Squadron converted to the F-22 from the F-15 Eagle and began flying the Raptors in partnership with the active-duty 19th Fighter Squadron. Twenty of the stealthy jets are based in Hawaii, with two usually in maintenance.

This is the first combat deployment for the 199th Fighter Squadron since it deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2000 to patrol the southern no-fly zone of Iraq, the Hawaii Guard said.

Although the Air Guard isn’t revealing how many of its Raptors deployed, the Air Force previously said the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida returned in May after completing its first Raptor combat deployment to Southwest Asia with six F-22s and more than 200 airmen.