The Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $536 million contract modification for sustainment services on the F-22 Raptor fifth-generation fighter jet, the company announced Wednesday. The funding is connected to a Performance-Based Logistics contract, which provides overall sustainment for F-22 weapons systems at US bases globally for 2017. The F-22 made its combat debut against ISIS in 2014 and deployed to Europe for the first time last year as part of the United States’ effort to assure allies wary of Russian aggression in the region. (See also: Keeping F-22s Modern.)
The U.S. military struck key Iranian nuclear sites June 21 in an operation that was intended to shut down Iran’s nuclear program but which was not aimed at the country’s leadership. U.S. Air Force bombers and submarine-launched cruise missiles struck three sites in the early hours of June 22: Fordow, Natanaz,…