STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC
Powerful opposition has emerged to the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F/A-22 just as programme engineers have overcome a key challenge two weeks before the US Air Force hopes to begin the next testing phase.
One month after a harshly critical report on the stealth fighter by the US General Accounting Office (GAO), Senator John McCain joined four public advocacy groups in calling for the programme's cancellation.
McCain is arguing the F/A-22 has become unaffordable. His comments follow a GAO recommendation last month urging the air force to develop a new business case to justify the aircraft's continued development, arguing that the programme's $71 billion cost could rise by another $11 billion.
Meanwhile, the air force is working to complete a final series of "entry events" before the aircraft can begin the initial operational test and evaluation phase around 30 April. Unfinished work includes completing maintainer and pilot training, as well as certifying to the US Congress that the avionics software is stable. Lockheed Martin says the F/A-22's software package has exceeded a stability threshold of 5h continuous operation between avionics anomalies.
Source: Flight International