The consolidation of depot maintenance for the F-22 Raptor at Hill AFB, Utah, will begin this month with the incremental transfer of work from a Lockheed Martin facility to the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, the Air Force Materiel Command announced. The decision to concentrate all of the Raptor depot modification and heavy maintenance, currently split between Ogden and Lockheed’s plant at Palmdale, Calif., is intended to improve efficiency and reduce cost. A comprehensive business case analysis by the F-22 System Program Office determined the consolidation could save more than $300 million over the life of the program. Based on those findings, the program office, Ogden, and Lockheed implemented a 21-month incremental transition plan, which will require improvements at the ALC, movement of support equipment, and hiring of about 200 new workers at Ogden. The consolidation “will create greater efficiency in the F-22 program by allowing the Air Force to cost effectively maintain the F-22 and ensure this critical front-line weapon system is readily available to the warfighter,” said Maj. Gen. H. Brent Baker Sr., Ogden ALC commander. Ogden will add six production lines, with the first opening this month, and will reach full capacity in February 2015.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.