Lockheed Martin Wins $10.8Bln Sustainment Contract to Keep F-22 Fleet Flying, Pentagon Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Lockheed Martin Corporation has won a more than $10.8 billion US Air Force contract to provide for Advanced Raptor Enhancement and Sustainment for the F-22 Program Office, the US Defense Department said in a press release.

“Lockheed Martin Corporation [of] Fort Worth, Texas has been awarded a $10.863 billion …contract for Advanced Raptor Enhancement and Sustainment (ARES) for the F-22 Program Office,” the release said on Friday.

The contract provides support for necessary supplies and services to sustain and modernize the F-22 Raptor jet, including modernization hardware kit procurement and services such as upgrades, enhancements and fixes as well as performance-based logistics services, the release said.

The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft that was designed as an air superiority jet, but also has ground attack, electronic warfare and signals intelligence capabilities, the release added.

The US Air Force had originally planned to buy a total of 750 jets, but the program was cut to 187 operational aircraft in 2009 due to high costs, a lack of clear air-to-air missions during production, a ban on exports and the development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The last F-22 was delivered in 2012.