Larry Lawson, Lockheed Martin executive VP and general manager of the F-22A program, today extolled progress on the Raptor. He was effusive over the program’s 2005 accomplishments—noting USAF’s declaration of IOC and that program officials had been able to capitalize on lessons learned from an exhaustive testing process. One such lesson helped improve the Raptor’s mean time between maintenance by 60 percent since IOT&E test results in early 2005.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.