A unique maintenance support program, involving two private/public partnerships between airframe and engine OEMs, and some of the government's largest air logistics centers, is well underway as the U.S. Air Force continues to build up its fleet of soon-to-be combat-ready F/A-22 Raptors. These partnerships are unprecedented according to representatives of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., the airframe prime contractor; and Pratt & Whitney, the vendor of the 36,000-pound thrust F119-PW-100 engines that power the twinjet fighter.

Flying into austere airfields under diminished visual conditions always has been an occupational hazard for military transport pilots. Because these facilities generally have no precision approach radar, or instrument landing systems, they are impossible to access and land on when ceilings and forward visibility are zero/zero due to fog, snow, rain, dust, or smoke. But that could be changing if an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) demonstration project proves successful.

T he world of military aircraft navigation and communication avionics is changing apace. Rapidly developing global air traffic communications and navigation requirements, along with new war-fighting concepts, mandate digital cockpit upgrades intended to prolong the life and usefulness of older military aircraft. While upgrading the avionics will mean a significant investment, it will keep many airframes viable for as much as 40 more years, said Tom Conard, director of business development-Air Force support programs for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in St. Louis.