The Air Force will consolidate its F-22 depot maintenance activities at the Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill AFB, Utah, announced service officials on Wednesday. The consolidation will occur over a 31-month period and is expected to save the Air Force at least $16 million annually, based on a comprehensive business case analysis, states the service’s May 29 release. F-22 depot maintenance work is currently split between Ogden and Lockheed Martin facility’s in Palmdale, Calif. “The facts show this will be a great efficiency for the F-22 program and the warfighter,” said Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center commander. “It will allow us to more quickly maintain the F-22, keeping this vital frontline fighter ready to meet any challenge, while at the same time allow us to strengthen the robust and capable Palmdale workforce on other critical programs within the local area,” he added. (See also F-22 Maintenance Facility Inaugurated at Hill.)
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.