Backtalk: Work on Raptor’s fuselage, data link is way overdue

[unhappycamper]

Work on Raptor’s fuselage, data link is way overdue
By Robert F. Dorr

The Air Force needs to fix the F-22 Raptor as quickly as possible.

Great airmen fly and maintain the F-22. Still, service leaders must work harder to make the F-22 force truly operational.

In May 2005, after a decade of demanding cheaper alternatives to what was then called the F/A-22, I changed flight paths and expressed support for the 381-Raptor force Air Force leaders want, not just the 183 planes the Bush administration has sought.

In years past, we might have found a less costly solution. Today, we need the full Raptor force and we need it to perform to expectations.

Two weeks ago, reporter Bruce Rolfsen wrote about F-22 problems that include leaks, corrosion and structural weakness (“Flawed fighter,” Nov. 12).

Every type of new plane has teething troubles, but a fundamental flaw in the forward fuselage boom, which supports the plane’s weight, should have been fixed years ago.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce_backtalk_raptor_071126/



uhc comment: For $330,000,000 a pop, I would expect more than what we got.