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The US Air Force’s fleet of F-22 Raptors will continue to be maintained by Lockheed Martin this year, after the manufacturer received a US$726.6 million contract modification.
Lockheed’s new deal for 2011, known as a Follow-On Agile Sustainment for the Raptor (FASTeR) sustainment contract, was initially awarded in 2008 with the USAF exercising an option to extend that to 2009. A follow-on modification was also issued for 2010.
FASTeR is a Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) contract providing weapon systems sustainment of the F-22 fleet at all operational bases for the 2011 calendar year, including training systems, customer support, integrated support planning, supply chain management, aircraft modifications and heavy maintenance, sustained engineering, support products and systems engineering.
“The Raptor is one of the U.S. Air Force’s most highly deployed aircraft by fleet percentage, and ensures that the United States and its allies can control the skies and access heavily defended theatres,” said vice president of sustainment for Lockheed Martin’s F-22 program, Scott Gray. “We work in close partnership with the Air Force to sustain the Raptor and to enhance aircraft availability, performance and reliability, at the lowest cost possible.”
F-22s are assigned to seven US bases around the world, with recent deployments including Guam (Andersen AFB), Japan (Kadena AB), Alaska (Elmendorf AFB) and the United Arab Emirates. However, operational F-22 aircraft are usually assigned to Air Force Bases (AFBs) at Langley, Elmendorf, Holloman and Hickam. The F-22 remains the world’s only fully operational fifth generation fighter, encompassing all aspect stealth capabilities.
