$1.4B to Support F-117 Stealth Attack Aircraft Through FY 2012
April 29/16: Legislation being considered by the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) could see the last 
of the USAF’s F-117A Nighthawk fleet sent to the scrap yard. Retired since 2007, a fleet of the pioneering stealth aircraft have been kept in special climate controlled storage hangers in the event they were ever needed again. Now, Congress is considering removing those mothballed aircraft and having them scrapped and gutted for hard-to-find parts.
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Lockheed Martin Corp. in Palmdale, CA received a $1.4 billion indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for the Total System Support Partnership (TSSP) II effort which provides continued sustainment support for the F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack fighter. The USAF has 59 of these aircraft in service, and plans have been tabled to retire the F-117s in favour of buying more F-22A stealth fighters (about $130-140 million each) with better performance and full self-defense capabilities. See also this interesting story, which explains how an F-117 was shot down during the Kosovo war by a Serbian unit equipped with aged SA-3 missiles.
The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract (FA8627-06-D-2160). Solicitations began December 2005, negotiations were complete September 2006, and work will be complete September 2012.
Cost-plus-incentive fee contracts are the predominant contract type here, but cost-plus-fixed fee, firm-fixed-price, and time and materials contracts may also be used on individual delivery orders as appropriate. Individual delivery orders may also be issued for aircraft modification induction, change proposal activities, supplemental sustainment support, tailored depot work packages, and aircraft disposition.
Updates
April 29/16: Legislation being considered by the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) could see the last of the USAF’s F-117A Nighthawk fleet sent to the scrap yard. Retired since 2007, a fleet of the pioneering stealth aircraft have been kept in special climate controlled storage hangers in the event they were ever needed again. Now, Congress is considering removing those mothballed aircraft and having them scrapped and gutted for hard-to-find parts.
