Lockheed Martin Rolls Out Last F-22A From Marietta Plant

Lockheed Martin has rolled out the last F-22A Raptor on order by the US Air Force, to close a nearly 15-year-old final assembly line that produced a total of 187 operational fighters.

After a ceremony marking the milestone event with employees, the final F-22A, bearing the tail number 4195, was moved to the flight line outside Lockheed's massive factory in Marietta, Georgia. It is scheduled for delivery to the USAF late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2012.

Meanwhile, Lockheed is implementing a plan to preserve carefully the F-22's special tooling and the manufacturing knowledge of its existing workforce. The air force has revealed no plans to restart F-22 production, but the tools will not be scrapped. Lockheed has said the equipment may be needed again for a future mid-life upgrade programme.

The same Marietta factory also produces the C-130J Super Hercules tactical transport and assembles new wing skins for the P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The space occupied by the F-22 will be converted into an assembly area for the centre wing of the F-35 Lightning II. C-5M Galaxy modifications are installed at another Lockheed facility in Marietta.

The USAF originally planned to buy 750 F-22s, but this number was significantly reduced over the years as a result of cost overruns in the development phase. In 2006, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld finally slashed the planned F-22 order from more than 300 to the current number of 187. Two aircraft have been lost in crashes.

http://www.flightglobal.com/

Comments

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF

Mossad & CIA Committed 9-11: Italian President Francesco Cossiga

Source: http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=114778 Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, who revealed the existence of Operation Gladio, has told Italy’s oldest and most widely read newspaper that the 9-11 terrorist attacks were run by the CIA and Mossad, and that this was common knowledge among global intelligence agencies. The evidence that Mossad planned 911 using Arab patsies is overwhelming; Mossad were caught filming the attack from Liberty Park and then later said on Israeli TV that they were sent there to document (they along with nearly 200 Mossad were rounded up and sent back to Israeli in the weeks following the attack, preventing the FBI from questioning them). Only 5 Israeli's died in the WTC attack; 3 on the airplanes and 2 in the buildings. It is a fact unexplainable by Zionists apologists that Idigo, and Israeli messaging service sent a warning in Hebrew worldwide that a terror attack would happen in a few hours on the da

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.

ASIAN DEFENCE

Search This Blog