WASHINGTON - The United States is suspending or canceling hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Pakistani military amid deteriorating ties, The New York Times reported late July 9.
Citing unnamed senior U.S. officials, the newspaper said the move was aimed at chastening Pakistan for expelling American military trainers and to press its army to fight militants more effectively.
In the wake of the May raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, the United States recalled dozens of military trainers on Pakistan's orders, while huge tensions remain over a covert American drone war against militants on the Afghan border.
According to The Times, about $800 million in military aid and equipment, or over one-third of the more than $2 billion in annual U.S. security assistance to Pakistan, could be affected by the suspension.
This aid includes about $300 million to reimburse Pakistan for some of the costs of deploying more than 100,000 soldiers along the Afghan border as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in training assistance and military hardware, the report said.
Some of the curtailed aid is equipment that the U.S. wants to send but Pakistan now refuses to accept, like rifles, ammunition, body armor and bomb-disposal gear, the paper said.
These deliveries were withdrawn or held up after Islamabad ordered more than 100 Army Special Forces trainers to leave the country in recent weeks, The Times noted.
Some of this equipment, such as night-vision goggles and helicopter spare parts, cannot be set up, certified or used for training because Pakistan has denied visas to the U.S. personnel needed to operate it, the paper said.
And some of the suspended assistance is reimbursement for troop costs, which is being reviewed in light of questions about Pakistan's commitment to carry out counterterrorism operations, The Times said.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Mullen Asks for China Help on North Korea
BEIJING - America's top military officer on July 10 urged Beijing to use its relationship with Pyongyang to ensure regional stability, while warning North Korea against further dangerous provocations.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressed that Washington was in no way seeking to contain China's dramatic rise, but that the U.S. would remain active in the Asia Pacific region for a long time.
"North Korea and the leadership of North Korea is only predictable in one sense and that is - if you base it historically - they will continue to provocate," Mullen told reporters after arriving in Beijing.
"The provocations I think now are potentially more dangerous than they have been in the past."
Tensions in Northeast Asia have risen sharply since South Korea accused the North of torpedoing a warship in March 2010, killing 46 sailors.
Pyongyang angrily denied the charge but went on to shell a border island in November, killing four South Koreans including two civilians.
Six-party nuclear disarmament talks, grouping the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, have been stalled since the North abandoned them in April 2009. It staged its second nuclear test a month later.
"All of us are focused on a stable outcome here of what is increasingly a difficult challenge with respect to the leadership in North Korea and what it might do," Mullen said.
"The Chinese leadership, they have a strong relationship with the leadership in Pyongyang and they exercise that routinely ... continuing to do that as they have done in the past is really important."
On a four-day trip to China, Mullen said he would discuss that and other issues in talks with his counterpart Gen. Chen Bingde and while visiting military bases as the two nations seek to bolster their security cooperation.
"The United States is deepening its commitment to this region and the alliances and partnerships that define our presence there," Mullen said in a speech at Beijing's Renmin University.
"We are, and will remain, a Pacific power, just as China is a Pacific power."
To help build trust with China, the U.S. will conduct anti-piracy drills with China in the Gulf of Aden this year, host medical aid exercises and participate in joint disaster relief exercises next year, he said.
"This region and the global challenges that we face together are just too vital and too vast for us to continue to find obstacles to a better understanding of each other," Mullen told reporters.
The trip coincided with a joint naval exercise that began July 9 with the U.S., Japanese and Australian navies in the South China Sea, where recent Chinese assertiveness over territorial claims has raised tensions.
During his trip, the first to China by a U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs since 2007, Mullen said he would also discuss the Taiwan issue, stability in the South China Sea and confidence-building measures between the two nations.
"Containing China is not the case ... we would like to see China in the long run to be a strong partner with the United States to resolve some of the issues that we have got both regionally and globally," Mullen said.
As tensions in the South China Sea mount, China-U.S. military exchanges have also picked up, with the former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates meeting Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie in Singapore in June.
Gates also visited Beijing in January.
Gates warned last month that clashes could erupt in the South China Sea unless nations adopt a mechanism to settle their territorial disputes peacefully.
Mullen dismissed suggestions that wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya had left the U.S. military unable to play a strong role in the Pacific, describing the idea of America in decline as "just dead wrong."
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, attends the Cooperative Security and Regional Stability in Asia meeting at Renmin University in Beijing on July 10. (STR / AFP via Getty Images)
"North Korea and the leadership of North Korea is only predictable in one sense and that is - if you base it historically - they will continue to provocate," Mullen told reporters after arriving in Beijing.
"The provocations I think now are potentially more dangerous than they have been in the past."
Tensions in Northeast Asia have risen sharply since South Korea accused the North of torpedoing a warship in March 2010, killing 46 sailors.
Pyongyang angrily denied the charge but went on to shell a border island in November, killing four South Koreans including two civilians.
Six-party nuclear disarmament talks, grouping the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, have been stalled since the North abandoned them in April 2009. It staged its second nuclear test a month later.
"All of us are focused on a stable outcome here of what is increasingly a difficult challenge with respect to the leadership in North Korea and what it might do," Mullen said.
"The Chinese leadership, they have a strong relationship with the leadership in Pyongyang and they exercise that routinely ... continuing to do that as they have done in the past is really important."
On a four-day trip to China, Mullen said he would discuss that and other issues in talks with his counterpart Gen. Chen Bingde and while visiting military bases as the two nations seek to bolster their security cooperation.
"The United States is deepening its commitment to this region and the alliances and partnerships that define our presence there," Mullen said in a speech at Beijing's Renmin University.
"We are, and will remain, a Pacific power, just as China is a Pacific power."
To help build trust with China, the U.S. will conduct anti-piracy drills with China in the Gulf of Aden this year, host medical aid exercises and participate in joint disaster relief exercises next year, he said.
"This region and the global challenges that we face together are just too vital and too vast for us to continue to find obstacles to a better understanding of each other," Mullen told reporters.
The trip coincided with a joint naval exercise that began July 9 with the U.S., Japanese and Australian navies in the South China Sea, where recent Chinese assertiveness over territorial claims has raised tensions.
During his trip, the first to China by a U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs since 2007, Mullen said he would also discuss the Taiwan issue, stability in the South China Sea and confidence-building measures between the two nations.
"Containing China is not the case ... we would like to see China in the long run to be a strong partner with the United States to resolve some of the issues that we have got both regionally and globally," Mullen said.
As tensions in the South China Sea mount, China-U.S. military exchanges have also picked up, with the former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates meeting Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie in Singapore in June.
Gates also visited Beijing in January.
Gates warned last month that clashes could erupt in the South China Sea unless nations adopt a mechanism to settle their territorial disputes peacefully.
Mullen dismissed suggestions that wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya had left the U.S. military unable to play a strong role in the Pacific, describing the idea of America in decline as "just dead wrong."
Iraq 'To Decide on Continued U.S. Military Presence'
BAGHDAD - Iraq's political parties will decide within two weeks what their position is on the possibility of U.S. troops remaining in the country beyond the end of 2011, President Jalal Talabani said July 9.
"All parties have discussed the matter, and we have all agreed that each one will... give its final response within two weeks," Talabani said after a meeting with political blocs at the presidential palace.
Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurds said they do not want to see American troops depart, while radical anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr has threatened to reactivate his Mahdi Army militia if they stay.
The other parties attending the meeting did not announce any stance on the issue.
About 46,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, but the entire force is due to leave by Dec. 31 under a security agreement with Baghdad.
But top U.S. officials have said that they would consider keeping some troops there after the deadline if requested by Iraqi authorities.
On July 7, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, confirmed that the United States and Iraq are negotiating a possible new security deal that would keep U.S. forces in the country beyond December 31.
"The negotiations are ongoing and it's hard," Mullen told reporters.
He said the discussions were addressing both the size of a possible U.S. military mission as well as the capabilities that Iraqi forces lacked.
"There are very clear capability gaps the Iraqis are going to have," said Mullen, citing air power, air defense and intelligence analysis.
"And both the Iraqi security forces and our forces recognize those gaps are there," he said.
How those gaps would be addressed is "at the heart of the discussions and negotiations which are ongoing as we speak," the admiral added.
"All parties have discussed the matter, and we have all agreed that each one will... give its final response within two weeks," Talabani said after a meeting with political blocs at the presidential palace.
Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurds said they do not want to see American troops depart, while radical anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr has threatened to reactivate his Mahdi Army militia if they stay.
The other parties attending the meeting did not announce any stance on the issue.
About 46,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, but the entire force is due to leave by Dec. 31 under a security agreement with Baghdad.
But top U.S. officials have said that they would consider keeping some troops there after the deadline if requested by Iraqi authorities.
On July 7, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, confirmed that the United States and Iraq are negotiating a possible new security deal that would keep U.S. forces in the country beyond December 31.
"The negotiations are ongoing and it's hard," Mullen told reporters.
He said the discussions were addressing both the size of a possible U.S. military mission as well as the capabilities that Iraqi forces lacked.
"There are very clear capability gaps the Iraqis are going to have," said Mullen, citing air power, air defense and intelligence analysis.
"And both the Iraqi security forces and our forces recognize those gaps are there," he said.
How those gaps would be addressed is "at the heart of the discussions and negotiations which are ongoing as we speak," the admiral added.
Friday, July 8, 2011
DoD to Release Public Version of Cyber Strategy
The U.S. Defense Department is hoping to drive the development of cyber war-fighting tools that will give itself new advantages on virtual battlegrounds.
Next week, the Pentagon will release an unclassified version of its much-anticipated cyber war-fighting strategy. Finalized several months ago, the strategy calls for treating cyberspace as a domain in which the military needs to be able to operate and defend U.S. interests, according to Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn.
"To do that … a military organization needs some sort of command structure to organize, train and equip the forces," Lynn said during a July 8 interview at the Pentagon.
Cyber security and the damage of attacks have become more frequently discussed by senior defense officials in recent years. Attacks can originate from virtually any computer with a network connection, and it is often difficult to trace their origins.
DoD is going to spend more on cyber technology and train its personnel better, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, said this week.
"The single biggest existential threat that's out there, I think, is cyber," Mullen said during a July 7 taping of This Week in Defense News. "I think we're going to have to focus a lot more on it."
DoD's strategy has also helped increase cyber-aligned resources, including nearly $500 million into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to Lynn.
"In draft form, we've used that strategy to build a stronger program and budget," he said. "Then we've used what we're doing here as a platform to reach out in the interagency process to help drive the legislative initiatives, as well as to develop a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, to work with them to think about how we're going to extend protections to critical infrastructure."
The strategy also calls on DoD "to utilize our advantages in technology to maintain our military strength that's dependent on information technology," Lynn said.
"In particular, over time, we're looking to change the balance between offense and defense in the Internet," he said. "Right now, the attacker has all the advantages and the defender is constantly playing catch up."
But DoD thinks it can get a leg up on this trend.
"We think you can make long-term … five- to 10-year technology investments where you might be able to change that balance so then you can impose more costs on the attacker," Lynn said.
To that end, DARPA and industry are exploring encrypting stored data so even if a computer gets hacked, the data is still protected. This type of encryption would provide "more balance between attacker and defender," according to Lynn.
"The challenge with that is you can do that now, but it really slows processing time," he said.
Although Lynn does not expect DoD to be "the dominant source of funding for this kind of stuff," he believes the Pentagon can "cede important investments" similar to the way it did with high-performance computing in the past.
Next week, the Pentagon will release an unclassified version of its much-anticipated cyber war-fighting strategy. Finalized several months ago, the strategy calls for treating cyberspace as a domain in which the military needs to be able to operate and defend U.S. interests, according to Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn.
"To do that … a military organization needs some sort of command structure to organize, train and equip the forces," Lynn said during a July 8 interview at the Pentagon.
Cyber security and the damage of attacks have become more frequently discussed by senior defense officials in recent years. Attacks can originate from virtually any computer with a network connection, and it is often difficult to trace their origins.
DoD is going to spend more on cyber technology and train its personnel better, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, said this week.
"The single biggest existential threat that's out there, I think, is cyber," Mullen said during a July 7 taping of This Week in Defense News. "I think we're going to have to focus a lot more on it."
DoD's strategy has also helped increase cyber-aligned resources, including nearly $500 million into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to Lynn.
"In draft form, we've used that strategy to build a stronger program and budget," he said. "Then we've used what we're doing here as a platform to reach out in the interagency process to help drive the legislative initiatives, as well as to develop a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, to work with them to think about how we're going to extend protections to critical infrastructure."
The strategy also calls on DoD "to utilize our advantages in technology to maintain our military strength that's dependent on information technology," Lynn said.
"In particular, over time, we're looking to change the balance between offense and defense in the Internet," he said. "Right now, the attacker has all the advantages and the defender is constantly playing catch up."
But DoD thinks it can get a leg up on this trend.
"We think you can make long-term … five- to 10-year technology investments where you might be able to change that balance so then you can impose more costs on the attacker," Lynn said.
To that end, DARPA and industry are exploring encrypting stored data so even if a computer gets hacked, the data is still protected. This type of encryption would provide "more balance between attacker and defender," according to Lynn.
"The challenge with that is you can do that now, but it really slows processing time," he said.
Although Lynn does not expect DoD to be "the dominant source of funding for this kind of stuff," he believes the Pentagon can "cede important investments" similar to the way it did with high-performance computing in the past.
Mullen Flies to China as U.S. Plans Naval Exercise
WASHINGTON - The top U.S. military officer departs for China July 8 in a trip designed to bolster a fledgling security dialogue with Beijing, even as a U.S. naval exercise in the South China Sea threatens to upstage his visit.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of staff, was to depart July 8 for the four-day tour that will include talks with senior officers and a visit to military units, officials said.
Mullen - who in May hosted his Chinese counterpart, People's Liberation Army Chief of General Staff Chen Bingde - "looks forward to continuing the engagement and dialogue" with Chen in Beijing, the Pentagon said in a statement.
But the admiral's trip coincides with a joint naval exercise set for July 9 with the U.S., Japanese and Australian navies in the South China Sea, where China has asserted territorial claims.
U.S. and Japanese officials said the exercise will include the Japanese destroyer Shimakaze, an American destroyer - the Preble - and a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat.
The ships will carry out communications training and other drills off Brunei, officials said.
The U.S. Navy played down the exercise, with a spokeswoman calling it a small-scale, "low-level" activity on the sidelines of an international defense exhibition in Brunei.
Lt. Commander Tamara Lawrence told AFP it was a "passing exercise," which typically includes flag semaphore drills, navigation and other exercises focused on "basic seamanship."
China has objected to previous U.S. naval drills in the South China Sea, and tensions in the strategic and resource-rich area have mounted in recent weeks.
The Philippines and Vietnam have expressed concern over what they call China's increasingly assertive stance in the area.
Mullen's visit also comes after the United States and the Philippines carried out joint naval exercises, which Manila and Washington insisted were aimed at deepening military ties and not related to worries over China.
China has insisted that it wants a peaceful resolution of territorial disagreements, but has warned Washington against involvement in the intensifying disputes in the region.
The trip to China is the first by a U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs since 2007, officials said.
Mullen "has a wide range of meetings with senior military officials scheduled, including visits to PLA military units," the Pentagon said.
The admiral was also due to address students at Renmin University in Beijing, it said.
As tensions in the South China Sea have mounted, the pace of China-U.S. military exchanges have also picked up, with the former U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates meeting Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie in Singapore in early June, following a January visit by Gates to Beijing.
Gates warned last month that clashes could erupt in the South China Sea unless nations with conflicting territorial claims adopt a mechanism to settle their disputes peacefully.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of staff, was to depart July 8 for the four-day tour that will include talks with senior officers and a visit to military units, officials said.
Mullen - who in May hosted his Chinese counterpart, People's Liberation Army Chief of General Staff Chen Bingde - "looks forward to continuing the engagement and dialogue" with Chen in Beijing, the Pentagon said in a statement.
But the admiral's trip coincides with a joint naval exercise set for July 9 with the U.S., Japanese and Australian navies in the South China Sea, where China has asserted territorial claims.
U.S. and Japanese officials said the exercise will include the Japanese destroyer Shimakaze, an American destroyer - the Preble - and a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat.
The ships will carry out communications training and other drills off Brunei, officials said.
The U.S. Navy played down the exercise, with a spokeswoman calling it a small-scale, "low-level" activity on the sidelines of an international defense exhibition in Brunei.
Lt. Commander Tamara Lawrence told AFP it was a "passing exercise," which typically includes flag semaphore drills, navigation and other exercises focused on "basic seamanship."
China has objected to previous U.S. naval drills in the South China Sea, and tensions in the strategic and resource-rich area have mounted in recent weeks.
The Philippines and Vietnam have expressed concern over what they call China's increasingly assertive stance in the area.
Mullen's visit also comes after the United States and the Philippines carried out joint naval exercises, which Manila and Washington insisted were aimed at deepening military ties and not related to worries over China.
China has insisted that it wants a peaceful resolution of territorial disagreements, but has warned Washington against involvement in the intensifying disputes in the region.
The trip to China is the first by a U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs since 2007, officials said.
Mullen "has a wide range of meetings with senior military officials scheduled, including visits to PLA military units," the Pentagon said.
The admiral was also due to address students at Renmin University in Beijing, it said.
As tensions in the South China Sea have mounted, the pace of China-U.S. military exchanges have also picked up, with the former U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates meeting Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie in Singapore in early June, following a January visit by Gates to Beijing.
Gates warned last month that clashes could erupt in the South China Sea unless nations with conflicting territorial claims adopt a mechanism to settle their disputes peacefully.
U.S., Japan, Australia Plan South China Sea Drill
TOKYO - The U.S., Japanese and Australian navies on July 9 will hold a joint drill in the South China Sea - most of which China claims as its maritime territory - Japan's defense ministry said.
Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force will send destroyer Shimakaze to join a U.S. Navy destroyer and a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat for communications training and other drills off Brunei, the defense ministry said July 8.
It will be their first joint military exercise in the South China Sea, most of which an increasingly assertive China claims as its maritime territory, but where several Southeast Asian nations have competing claims.
"The exercise is aimed at enhancing tactical skills of the Maritime Self-Defence Force and strengthening relations with the participating navies," the ministry said in a statement.
Tensions in the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea have escalated in recent weeks, with the Philippines and Vietnam voicing alarm at what they say are increasingly forceful Chinese actions there.
They include accusations of Chinese forces opening fire on Filipino fishermen, shadowing an oil exploration vessel employed by a Philippine firm, and putting up structures in areas claimed by the Philippines.
Vietnam voiced anger after a Chinese vessel in May cut the exploration cables of a Vietnamese survey ship.
The South China Sea includes the Spratlys, a chain of islands believed to sit on vast mineral resources.
Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force will send destroyer Shimakaze to join a U.S. Navy destroyer and a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat for communications training and other drills off Brunei, the defense ministry said July 8.
It will be their first joint military exercise in the South China Sea, most of which an increasingly assertive China claims as its maritime territory, but where several Southeast Asian nations have competing claims.
"The exercise is aimed at enhancing tactical skills of the Maritime Self-Defence Force and strengthening relations with the participating navies," the ministry said in a statement.
Tensions in the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea have escalated in recent weeks, with the Philippines and Vietnam voicing alarm at what they say are increasingly forceful Chinese actions there.
They include accusations of Chinese forces opening fire on Filipino fishermen, shadowing an oil exploration vessel employed by a Philippine firm, and putting up structures in areas claimed by the Philippines.
Vietnam voiced anger after a Chinese vessel in May cut the exploration cables of a Vietnamese survey ship.
The South China Sea includes the Spratlys, a chain of islands believed to sit on vast mineral resources.
F-22 Deliveries Halt as Grounding Continues
Deliveries of F-22 Raptors to the U.S. Air Force have been halted due to the continuing suspension of flight operations for the stealthy fifth-generation air superiority fighter.
Even though manufacturer Lockheed Martin continues to build the aircraft at its Marietta, Ga., factory, the company is unable to do required flight testing for each aircraft as it leaves final assembly. Nor can government test pilots from the Pentagon's Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) fly their acceptance flights for new aircraft as they are readied for delivery.
"Our final assembly is scheduled through December 2011. That is still ongoing at Marietta. We delivered aircraft 4181, and that was on June 22, to the Air Force, so they have that as their aircraft," said Lockheed spokeswoman Stephanie Stinn. "After that aircraft, we can't do the required acceptance flights."
Technically, four aircraft have been delivered to the Air Force, but are being stored at Marietta pending the lifting of the flight restrictions. When the Air Force resumes F-22 flight operations, those aircraft will be flown to Langley Air Force Base (AFB), Va.
Two further aircraft, 4182 and 4183, have been completed, but the company and DCMA can't do required flight testing on those jets, Stinn said. The aircraft are being stored in a near-flight-ready status, she said.
Aircraft "4182 and 4183 were scheduled to deliver in July, but they're not in a position to do any sort of test flights, so we can't deliver," Stinn said. "Maybe early August, but we don't have a definitive date."
Aircraft 4182 and onwards, which have not undergone any of their acceptance flights, have yet to receive their final stealth coatings. The coatings are applied only after a number of flight tests have been completed, and as a result, a backlog is slowly building up.
Before the stealth coatings are applied, the aircraft fly coated only with a primer.
The Raptors have been "stood down" since May 3, according to Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Jennifer Ferrau, due to a suspected problem with the aircraft's oxygen generator.
According to one Air Force document, after reviewing work on a study of the F-22 On-Board Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS), the chief of Air Combat Command, Gen. William Fraser, instituted a temporary flight restriction for the F-22 and directed a Class E Safety Investigation.
The investigation, which began in January, includes the OBOGS installed in the A-10, F-15E, F-16, F-22, F-35 and T-6 aircraft. Fraser appointed Maj. Gen. Steve Hoog, commander of Ninth Air Force, as the investigating officer.
The flight restriction applies to all F-22 crews, but test pilots at Edwards AFB, Calif., are operating under a flight waiver that allows them to fly certain test sorties. Air Force officials at Edwards could not immediately say what kind of test sorties those aircraft are flying.
The grounding is hurting the readiness of operational F-22 pilots, who cannot maintain their currency on the twin-engine jet. The Air Force is using simulators to ease the problem as much as it can.
"Pilots and ground crew continue to train in simulators and perform ground tasks to stay as proficient as possible. Once the aircraft are cleared to fly again, there will be a period where the pilots will need in-flight training to become fully proficient on the aspects of flying that simulators cannot replicate," Ferrau said. "Some live flight is required for high-G maneuvering flight, a true outside visual, and in-flight decision-making in a dynamic environment where simulators are lacking."
A new F-22 Raptor sits at the Lockheed Martin production facility at Marietta, Ga., one of four that have technically been delivered to the U.S. Air Force but have yet to fly to their home base at Langley AFB, Va., because of a service-wide grounding (Lockheed Martin)
"Our final assembly is scheduled through December 2011. That is still ongoing at Marietta. We delivered aircraft 4181, and that was on June 22, to the Air Force, so they have that as their aircraft," said Lockheed spokeswoman Stephanie Stinn. "After that aircraft, we can't do the required acceptance flights."
Technically, four aircraft have been delivered to the Air Force, but are being stored at Marietta pending the lifting of the flight restrictions. When the Air Force resumes F-22 flight operations, those aircraft will be flown to Langley Air Force Base (AFB), Va.
Two further aircraft, 4182 and 4183, have been completed, but the company and DCMA can't do required flight testing on those jets, Stinn said. The aircraft are being stored in a near-flight-ready status, she said.
Aircraft "4182 and 4183 were scheduled to deliver in July, but they're not in a position to do any sort of test flights, so we can't deliver," Stinn said. "Maybe early August, but we don't have a definitive date."
Aircraft 4182 and onwards, which have not undergone any of their acceptance flights, have yet to receive their final stealth coatings. The coatings are applied only after a number of flight tests have been completed, and as a result, a backlog is slowly building up.
Before the stealth coatings are applied, the aircraft fly coated only with a primer.
The Raptors have been "stood down" since May 3, according to Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Jennifer Ferrau, due to a suspected problem with the aircraft's oxygen generator.
According to one Air Force document, after reviewing work on a study of the F-22 On-Board Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS), the chief of Air Combat Command, Gen. William Fraser, instituted a temporary flight restriction for the F-22 and directed a Class E Safety Investigation.
The investigation, which began in January, includes the OBOGS installed in the A-10, F-15E, F-16, F-22, F-35 and T-6 aircraft. Fraser appointed Maj. Gen. Steve Hoog, commander of Ninth Air Force, as the investigating officer.
The flight restriction applies to all F-22 crews, but test pilots at Edwards AFB, Calif., are operating under a flight waiver that allows them to fly certain test sorties. Air Force officials at Edwards could not immediately say what kind of test sorties those aircraft are flying.
The grounding is hurting the readiness of operational F-22 pilots, who cannot maintain their currency on the twin-engine jet. The Air Force is using simulators to ease the problem as much as it can.
"Pilots and ground crew continue to train in simulators and perform ground tasks to stay as proficient as possible. Once the aircraft are cleared to fly again, there will be a period where the pilots will need in-flight training to become fully proficient on the aspects of flying that simulators cannot replicate," Ferrau said. "Some live flight is required for high-G maneuvering flight, a true outside visual, and in-flight decision-making in a dynamic environment where simulators are lacking."
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