The two Virginia Air National Guard pilots who just days ago told the nation that the F-22 fighter wasn’t currently safe to fly now want to resume flying the jet. The pilots are more comfortable about operating the aircraft now that the Air Force has removed a charcoal filter from the jet that service officials had installed to monitor for contaminants in Raptor pilots’ air supply, reported The Daily Press of Newport News, Va., on May 9, citing the two pilots’ attorney. The two pilots thought this filter—meant to help identify why some F-22 pilots, including both of them, have experienced hypoxia-like symptoms in the cockpit—was making it harder for them to breathe, according to the newspaper. The Air Force leadership is treating both 192nd Fighter Wing pilots—Maj. Jeremy Gordon and Capt. Josh Wilson—as whistleblowers, USAF headquarters spokesman Lt. Col. John Dorrian told the Daily Report. This means they are protected from punishment under federal law for appearing on CBS News’ 60 Minutes television broadcast on May 6 to air their concerns.
Lockheed Martin projects more than a billion dollars of losses on a classified program, but company officials said April 23 they are confident it will turn profitable by 2028 and become a "franchise" system in the U.S. military.