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Inside the Air Force
Wing mods also under way
AIR FORCE WORKING TO REMOVE CORROSION FROM F-22A FIGHTER JETS
September 7, 2007
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, UT -- The Air Force is quickly working to remove
recently discovered corrosion on its fifth-generation F-22A fighter
fleet, maintenance officials tell Inside the Air Force. Raptors are
currently going through an evaluation phase of a repair program,
dubbed the "corrosion speed line," Mike Dooner, the aircraft
production chief, said during a Sept. 5 interview at the repair shop
here. "We're just cleaning it up," Dooner said. Maintainers are "going
to be putting different type panels on" the Raptors in the next couple
of months as well. Classification issues prevented the officials from
disclosing the areas of the corrosion, the number of aircraft
impacted, the number of jets being worked on and the price tag on the
modifications. Maintainers -- who include industry partners from
Lockheed Martin -- also are performing "techniques" that extend the
service life of the advanced fighter's wing-lugs and attach fittings,
Dooner said. Later model aircraft coming off the production line will
already be upgraded. The upgrade takes roughly 43 days to complete.
The second part of the Raptor's structural repair phase includes a
hardware installation and more structural work on the aft of the jet,
he said. Right now, Raptors are receiving these modifications at Hill,
while others are undergoing the corrosion upgrade and receiving the
wing upgrade, Ned King, F-22A squadron operations officer, said in the
same interview. Corrosion affected jets have already gone through the
shop and the wing modification, Dooner said. Those aircraft were all
delivered on time, King noted. Technicians also are in the process of
completing a "night air-to-air refueling" modification in which
replacement lights are installed on top of the aircraft, Dooner said.
It takes maintainers about 30 days to complete this upgrade. The
upgrade gives the pilot better visibility when connecting to a
refueling tanker, he said. This program began 18 months earlier than
expected due to an urgent need request, King said. In addition to
Hill, F-22A modifications are being conducted at Tyndall Air Force
Base, FL, and a Lockheed Martin facility in Palmdale, CA. Hill's
modification shop will soon be getting a structural upgrade of its
own. Officials are soliciting contractors to build a new facility
across from where the current hanger is located, King said. Congress
allotted $26 million in the fiscal year 2007 Military Construction
Appropriations Act for the project, according to a Senate report on
the legislation.