Production of final F-22 begins

The 187th and final F-22 Raptor for the USAF has commenced production and will enter the assembly line at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta line in November.

The aircraft, tail number 195, is due to emerge from the line in August 2011 and be delivered to the USAF the following February.

Lockheed Martin officials have revealed all F-22 production tooling will be retained “for three to five years at least” pending a decision on how to sustain it on the longer term, and that the company is filming and documenting all production processes in case production needs to be re-started in the future.