Lockheed Martin officials maintain that a problem with the F-22A airframe revealed last December bears no “safety of flight risk” or reduction in the aircraft’s service life, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Company officials also said that the Air Force is well within its contractual rights to withhold nearly $60 million to inspect the 48 fighters affected by a flaw that could lead to cracking. Air Force officials earlier this year told lawmakers that they had not restricted flight for any F-22s because of a “misapplied” standard in heat-treating the titanium in the forward section of the airframe.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
