WASHINGTON — The Air Drive on Friday awarded Lockheed Martin a $10.9 billion contract to modernize its F-22 Raptor fighter jet.
The huge indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity deal for the F-22 Program Workplace’s Superior Raptor Enhancement and Sustainment, or ARES, program will cowl as much as a decade’s price of sustainment and modernization of the fifth-generation fighter.
In accordance with a Protection Division announcement, the contract will cowl providers together with upgrades, enhancements and fixes to the Raptor. Lockheed can even present logistics providers and modernization {hardware} package procurement.
If all contract choices are exercised, the Pentagon expects the work to be completed by Oct. 31, 2031. Work on the contract will probably be carried out in Fort Price, Texas.
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The contract was a sole-source award to Lockheed Martin, which constructed the F-22.
Nevertheless, by the point the F-22′s modernization below ARES is completed, the plane may very well be nearing the tip of its life span.
Air Drive Chief of Workers Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown stated in Could the Air Drive plans to finally retire the F-22 as a part of an effort to trim its fighter stock.
Lt. Gen. Clinton Hinote, Air Drive deputy chief of employees for technique, integration and necessities, stated in a Could interview with Protection Information the service is planning to make use of the Raptor as a “bridge” till the Subsequent Technology Air Dominance program is up and operating.
Hinote famous that by the 2030s, the Raptor can be 4 many years outdated, having first gone into growth in 1991.
“It’s simply not going to be the suitable software for the job, particularly after we’re speaking about defending our associates like Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines in opposition to a Chinese language risk that grows and grows,” Hinote stated in Could.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter at Protection Information. He beforehand reported for Navy.com, overlaying the Pentagon, particular operations and air warfare. Earlier than that, he coated U.S. Air Drive management, personnel and operations for Air Drive Instances.