Many wonder why Gordon England, the Pentagon’s No. 2, is not a supporter of the F/A-22 fighter. Presumably, he would be a fan; after all, he had been president of Lockheed’s Fort Worth fighter business, which builds part of the Raptor, and as such he is very familiar with its revolutionary capabilities. However, before England was a Lockheed man, he was a General Dynamics man, the head of GD’s Fort Worth fighter operation. When Lockheed bought it, the new owner’s Marietta, Ga., headquarters–home of the F/A-22 operation–took over, and the Texans weren’t pleased with their treatment. There’s “no love lost” between the Marietta Mafia and the Fort Worth people, says a close observer. England actually left Lockheed and went back to GD corporate in 1997, where he served until he joined the Bush team in 2001. –from John Tirpak.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
