By akademiotoelektronik, 09/10/2022

Lockheed-Martin obtains an $ 11 billion contract to fly the F-22A Raptor until 2031

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Developed in the 1990s by Lockheed-Martin, the 5th generation F-22A combat aircraft "Raptor" has constantly changed since its entry into service, in 2005.Thus, in 2011, and while the last copy came out of the factory, it was a question of investing nearly $ 10 billion to provide this air-ground capacity superiority device and further improve its performance.

As a reminder, the Pentagon initially wanted to have 750 F-22A Raptor.Only, with the end of the Cold War, the "target" was reduced to 350 units.Then, the Obama administration decided, in 2009, to stop production in order to identify budgetary resources for the benefit of the F-35 program.Also, only 187 copies were delivered to the US Air Force, which increased their unit price to $ 400 million.

The end of the production of the F-22A Raptor will not have been a relevant decision.On the one hand, and with the evolution of the international context [marked, with regard to the United States, by growing rivalry with China], the number of endowment devices is now insufficient.And, on the other hand, the supply of spare parts is more difficult, which complicates the maintenance in operational condition [MCO] and plays on the availability of these planes.A report by the Government Accountability Office [GAO, an American equivalent of the Court of Auditors] had determined that it was sometimes 30 weeks to replace a defective component.

At the same time, the US Air Force intends to reduce the number of types of devices in service within its combat aviation by 2030.Last May, his chief of staff, General Charles Q.Brown, advanced that there was a question of investing in the F-15EX "Super Eagle", the F-35A Lightning II, the F-16 [likely to be replaced by a 4.5 generation hunter-bombardier, editor's note] and the 6th generation plane from the “Next Generation Air Dominance” program [NGAD].

Anyway, and even if it is no longer one of the long-term plans of the US Air Force, the F-22A Raptor still has a few years before it.Hence the launch of the ARES program [Advanced Raptor Enhancement and Sustainment], in order to modernize, undoubtedly one last time, the devices still in endowment.

On November 5, the Pentagon announced that it has awarded a market to Lockheed-Martin of almost $ 11 billion to ensure the support and modernization of the F-22A Raptor fleet.The press release evokes "upgrades", "improvements" and "fixes", as well as the provision of "performance -based" logistics services.The contract will end on October 31, 2031.Which means that the US Air Force plans to keep this type of device in its inventory for at least ten more years.

"We treat [the F-22] as a bridge towards the 'Ngad' ability," said General Clinton Hinote, the deputy chief of the US Air Force, in charge of the strategy, at Defense News, last May."By 2030, we will have a 40 -year -old platform.And it will not simply be the right tool, especially when we talk about defending our friends, like Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, against a Chinese threat that continues to assert itself, "he said.

In detail, the US Air Force has 186 F-22A Raptor [a copy was lost in May 2020, editor's note].On this total, 123 are implemented by front line squadrons [those belonging to the block versions 30/35/40], 29 are assigned to 43rd Fighter Squadron for the training of pilots and 16 are used for tests.The remaining planes were put in reserve to compensate for a possible attrition.