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 Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.