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 Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
