F-22 Raptor’s makers knew for 10 years of corrosion problem, which is costing millions to fix at Hill
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:
Posted: 2:26 PM- The manufacturers of the Air Force’s newest fighter jet knew years ago that the composition of some mechanical access panels made the F-22 Raptor susceptible to corrosion. Military officials even changed the design to fix the problem.
But a decade later in a program already fraught with setbacks, the design flaw reappeared. Now, about two-thirds of the military’s fleet of Raptors are suffering from corrosion, prompting the Air Force to speed up the timeline for bringing the aircraft through Hill Air Force Base for depot-level maintenance.
“So the world’s most expensive, most advanced aircraft is in the shop for repairs for something simple that someone figured out a long time ago?” said Nick Schwellenbach, national security investigator for the Project On Government Oversight.
“I’d like to say I was outraged, and it is outrageous,” Schwellenbach said, “but it’s all too common.”
The Project on Government Oversight has exposed numerous other problems with the Raptor, which costs more than $130 million per plane – and nearly three times that, when research, development and other costs are factored in. Continue reading “Health Care’s too expensive.”