Former Lockheed Martin Engineer Calls Fraud on F-22 Stealth

As the fight over whether to continue production of the F-22 rages on, a recently unsealed qui tam lawsuit raises major questions about its stealth capabilities, one of the key air-superiority features of the fighter jet. If the allegations are true, the justification for the whole program may be in question.

The lawsuit, filed by a Materials and Process engineer specializing in stealth (also known as low-observable materials), accuses Lockheed Martin of fraudulently developing the stealth capability of the F-22 and falsely portraying to the Air Force that the stealth coating on the fighter met specifications. The engineer, relator Darrel O. Olsen, also alleges that the management at Lockheed Martin directed him not to speak to the Air Force about the problems with the coating, and that his advice to modify the coatings or purchase different coatings to meet specifications were ignored due to concerns with meeting contract milestones. While the relator in the case left Lockheed Martin in 1999, the suit claims that third-party sources report that the stealth capability of the F-22 remained dysfunctional through at least 2004, with Lockheed Martin knowingly using defective coatings and never fully disclosing the low observable system defects to the Air Force.

This of course is not the first time that the real and practical capability of the stealth of the F-22 has come into question. Just last February, POGO reported that the maintenance requirements for the stealth capability significantly reduced the F-22's mission capability. As we said at the time, we believed that this may have been one of the primary reasons why then-Defense Department Acquisition Chief John Young said that the F-22's mission capable rate was too low to waste additional taxpayer dollars on further procurement.

-- Mandy Smithberger

Comments

[watchingfrogsboil]

Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to Bank $3.5 Billion from "Space Fence" Boondoggle

According to the POGO Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD), since 1995 Lockheed Martin has been charged with committing over 54 instances of fraud and other white collar crimes while Raytheon was charged with 21. Despite that, the U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin and Raytheon contracts to provide designs for a "space fence". So far, each has been obligated $20 million of the potential $107 million contracts, the Air Force said. The Navy originally was heading up the space fence project but handed it over to the Air Force in 2004. The military expects to spend $3.5 billion on the project, which is expected to be completed in 2015.

U.S. total debt $55.6 trillion, U.S. federal debt $14.1 trillion, U.S. federal deficit $1.5 trillion, U.S. dollar rapidly losing world reserve currency status, as U.S. politicians bought and paid for by multinational corporations (legalized by Citizens United vs. FEC) cut education, close schools, convert asphalt roads to gravel and accelerate America's descent into oblivion so they can pay Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and other greed- and graft-infested government contractors billions for Rube Goldberg defense systems and myriad non-defense boondoggles as unnecessary, unaffordable and unjustifiable as our unending wars for oil and profit:

http://watchingfrogsboil.com/raytheon-and-lockheed-martin-to-bank-35-billi

[Relator 2]

The problem with the F-22s is galvanic corrosion. The F-22s are based near the oceans where salt can get into the skins and structure. The carbon composite skins are reacting with the aluminium bulkhead structures. These materials are dissimilar metals on the galvanic chart and allow for an electrical potential and, thus, corrosion. The solution is to separate the skins from the under-structure with shims. This design information should have come from the Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3) group (who I knew) and should have been passed onto the Material & Process (M&P) group (who I also knew) in building L22 in Marietta, Georgia during the early 1990s. The problem is that the Cold War ended, the old timers who worked in E3 retired, and the younger generation (staff engineers) only knew how to write CDRLs for the F-22 customer! The young E3 eningeers had very little experience in the laboratory environment, that is, onhands work with a real aircraft at the time. I also knew the E3 experts in Burbank, California before the consolidation of the three separate Lockheed California Company, Lockheed Georgia Company, and GD Fort Worth sites. Engineers of the Cold War knew their Military Standard Specifications and how to apply their knowledge in building aircraft. Another problem is that the F-22 was designed and built around the new IPT structure which placed everyone in meetings all the time. It took real engineers to get out into the laboratory and into the production line to test or check the materials and coatings to see if they were working. I remember when the coatings on the F-22 canopies were messed up. A staff engineer (MB) and I tested these coatings with transmission horns and an analyzer. These canopies cost about $1 million a piece. All 8 canopies failed the tests. MB replied to me in his southern accent: "These are all f*@ked up!" We both started to laugh, because of the huge cost of the mess up in wrong specifications and lack of testing for the vendor. MB later wrote a test procedure for the vendor to correct the problem. "And now you know the rest of the story"...as the late Paul Harvey would say on the radio.

[G2Guy]

The recent F-22 Stealth $300 million surcharge resulting from the poorly performing LO/stealth applications is not due to shape--bad materials from the "get go" leading to poor skins. DFEN S can choose the lobbyists' arguments, but not the facts. It matters when a person has first hand knowledge, and the whistleblower above is not the only person who can confirm the worst. Poor work makes poor weapons, and combat troops deserve the best, since they place their lives at stake.

[Michael DeKort]

I am the Deepwater whistleblower/ FCA realtor. My attorney is Sam Boyd out of Dallas, Texas who is also the lead attorney on the F-22 FCA mentioned above. I am wondering if you have considered contacting him directly and identifying yourself to him? Would it be helpful if you contact me first?
imispgh@yahoo.com

You can also get to me through Mandy or Danielle at POGO.

Lastly thank you for the letter

[Relator 2]

The F-22s are being repaired in building 601 at the Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. Thanks for the extra work! We need the jobs.

[Dfens]

As usual, if you'd only do a cursory check of your facts in this case you'd find out that almost all of the "stealth" quality of the F-22 is in its shape and not in the coatings that cover it.