Larry Lawson, Lockheed Martin executive VP and general manager of the F-22A program, today extolled progress on the Raptor. He was effusive over the program’s 2005 accomplishments—noting USAF’s declaration of IOC and that program officials had been able to capitalize on lessons learned from an exhaustive testing process. One such lesson helped improve the Raptor’s mean time between maintenance by 60 percent since IOT&E test results in early 2005.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III outlined Dec. 4 the vital importance of U.S. defense investment keeping pace with that of China before issuing a statement warning that such competition would suffer “irreparable” damage if Congress opts for a yearlong continuing resolution, a real possibility being discussed by lawmakers after…