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Lockheed’s F-22s Corroding, Need $228 Million Repairs
By Tony Capaccio and Gopal Ratnam - Dec 16, 2010 11:49 PM GMT+0100
Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-22 jets began corroding soon after introduction into the U.S. Air Force in 2005
and the Defense Department plans to spend $228 million through 2016 to fix the deteriorating aluminum skin panels, the Government Accountability Office said in a report today.
The newer F-35 aircraft, which are also built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed, have an improved design and use updated materials and paint
to prevent the corrosion seen on the F-22 jets, according to the report sent to the Senate and House Armed Services committees.
“Corrosion of the aluminum skin panels was first observed in spring 2005, less than six months” after the F-22 jets were first deployed, the report said.
By October 2007, 534 cases of damage to the panels were documented, the report said, and “corrosion in the substructure was becoming prevalent.”
Air Force spokesman Chris Isleib said the service is reviewing the report and had no immediate comment.
After being deployed, F-22 jets “indicated corrosion issues resulting from interaction” with stealth materials used to hide the aircraft from enemy radar, Lockheed spokesman Christopher McGee said in an e-mail.
The company has developed alternative material that “eliminated that interaction” and began making changes to the fleet starting in early 2010, he said.
Joint Testing
To ensure that the F-35 plane doesn’t suffer similar deterioration, McGee said, “the F-22 and F-35 programs have been jointly performing development tests since the second quarter of 2007.”
The F-35 also has better drain holes to let moisture escape, according to the GAO report.
“Drain holes in the F-22 were found to be too small to enable good water drainage,” it said.
The Defense Department has estimated that dealing with corrosion across all of the Pentagon’s weapons costs the agency $21 billion annually, the report said.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates in 2009 curtailed production of the F-22 program to the 187 planes on order.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at $382 billion is the Pentagon’s most expensive program. The plane is in the early stages of production.
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