"We are finding test efficiencies in this process. We don't have to have extra flight test time because of the capabilities of the airplane," Air Force Brig. Gen. Michael Mushala, program director for the F-22, told Defense Daily yesterday in a telephone interview.

On Nov. 10, the Air Force briefed Philip Coyle, the Pentagon's director of Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E), on the reduction plan. Coyle is not as sanguine about the flight test reduction as the Air Force.

"DOT&E feels this as an optimistic approach to remain within the cost cap. The cost cap is causing many program changes to reduce costs, which almost always result in increased development risks," according to DOT&E answers to written questions from Defense Daily. "Further, these development risks become higher with elapsed time as the cost reduction options become harder to implement. At this point in the engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) phase, cost discretion remains largely in the test area. However, reduction of testing at this point increases the risk of not being ready to start or successfully complete initial operational test and evaluation."

In the fall of 1998, the Air Force deferred external combat testing of missiles on the pylons until after the engineering, and manufacturing development (EMD) phase ends in FY '03. The Air Force decided to defer such testing because the F-22's primary air dominance mission, which relies on stealth, is accomplished with internally carried munitions.

DAE Meeting

That deferral reduced the flight test hour target from 4,337 hours to 3,947 hours. The program is to complete such flight test hours in the EMD phase. "DOT&E does not agree that so much of stores testing should be postponed," according to DOT&E's response to the questions from Defense Daily.

The decision to reduce the flight test hours to 3,757 hours came in September last year before a Defense Acquisition Executive meeting that permitted the Air Force to award Lockheed Martin a $1.5 billion contract for the six Production Representative Test Vehicle 11 aircraft and advance procurement of the first 10 low rate initial production aircraft.

The program said it could reduce avionics testing by 190 hours--88 of which are now to be accomplished through lab test activities, like the Boeing (BA) 757 flying test bed and the avionics test lab.

The other 102 hours in the reduction are to come from gaining additional avionics test points on each sortie, according to the Air Force.

On some flights, the service flew four sorties to accomplish one test point, such as locking on a certain size target at a given range, one source said. "Based on the results we've been getting from the airplane, there are sorties that are not required," the source said.

But DOT&E, in its response to Defense Daily, says that the reduction of 190 hours is to come from a combination of lab testing and "deletion of test points."

The 3,757 flight test hour program includes 1,970 avionics flight test hours. As of yesterday, the program had accomplished nearly 509 flight test hours in 228 sorties.

DOT&E also said the program wants to reduce flight test hours by another 173 hours below the 3,757 hours. "An additional 173 hours is from the reduction in flight test months on aircraft 4001 of 4.6 months and aircraft 4003 of 2.3 months, based on a 25 hour per aircraft month flight rate planning factor," according to DOT&E.

The General Accounting Office has warned that reducing flight test hours would increase the risk of entering production.

Delays in the EMD program caused the Air Force to reduce substantially the amount of flight testing before entering production, GAO said. The revised goal was 519 hours by the end of last month-which was to mark the low rate initial production contract award. But Congress has allowed the delay of a production decision on the F-22 until FY '01 to allow the aircraft to meet additional criteria. The decision is now to come this November.

"The actions of the Authorization and Appropriations Committees on the fiscal year 2000 budget delayed the beginning of production until certain conditions are met," according to prepared congressional testimony last month by GAO's Louis Rodrigues. "As a result, more time is available to complete flight tests, therefore reducing risks before the decision is made to commit to low-rate initial production. As the Air Force makes changes to the F-22 program to reflect fiscal year 2000 congressional actions, we will continue evaluating the relationships of EMD, testing and production conunitments."

Mushala said the revised flight test hour program was an example of a successful stewardship of resources.

"It's a very solid program that meets the flight test objectives. It's what we need to verify the capabilities we need for the aircraft," he said. (Courtesy of Lockheed Martin press release)