With its F-22s Corroding, Attention Focuses on Lockheed’s F-35December 22, 2010
 A new report by the Government Accountability Office notes that the Defense Department plans to spend $228 million through 2016 to fix corrosion on its F-22 fighter jets, according to an article by Bloomberg News. Corrosion is a major problem across all of the Department of Defense's weapon systems, costing the agency about $21 billion annually, according to the report. But the problem with Lockheed Martin's F-22 jets will have to be watched carefully because the same company is manufacturing the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most advanced and most expensive Pentagon program. “Corrosion of the aluminum skin panels was first observed in spring 2005, less than six months” after the F-22 were first deployed, according to the GAO report. Within the first two years, there were more than 534 cases and “corrosion in the substructure was becoming prevalent.” Lockheed Martin is performing joint testing between F-22 and F-35 programs to avoid similar corrosion on the new F-35 fighter jets now in development, a company spokesman told Bloomberg News. The spokesman said the F-22 jets “indicated corrosion issues resulting from interaction” with the stealth material the aircraft uses to evade enemy radar. He added that the company has developed another material that “eliminated that interaction." Starting early next year, the new material will replace the problematic material on the existing F-22 fleet, he told Bloomberg News. The GAO report points out that the F-35 has improved drain holes to allow moisture to escape while the drain holes on the F-22 were too small to allow proper water drainage. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald) |
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