Lockheed Martin has completed work ahead of schedule on the first of 12 F-22 Raptors at its Inlet Coating Repair Speedline facility in Marietta, Ga. There are two more Raptors currently at the facility, one that arrived in December 2016 and another that arrived in late January. “Periodic maintenance is required to maintain the special exterior coatings that contribute to the fifth generation very low observable radar cross section,” according to a company release. “The increase in F-22 deployments, including ongoing operational combat missions, has increased the demand for ICR.”
The successful second flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket on Nov. 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., also included a first for the company—the launcher’s booster stuck its landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
