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And it's impossible to make replacement parts for the F-22 now. The US military paid Lockheed Martin to store all the custom tooling and manuals in case the pro

And it's impossible to make replacement parts for the F-22 now. The US military paid Lockheed Martin to store all the custom tooling and manuals in case the production line needed to be restarted. A few years later that was attempted and the shipping containers holding all the tooling were empty! https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/solution-americas-f-35-nightmare-why-not-build-more-f-22s-13858 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/solution-americas... I'm genuinely fascinated by this, but haven't been able to find more information. Was there an investigation? Did the tooling just get sent to the scrap heap? Who signed off on empty storage containers?

bsamuels 7y ago
One possibility is they were stolen by an intelligence agency - if so you'll probably never hear about the investigation
- hanniabu 7y ago
  Either that or they were always empty so they can get another outrageously huge contract to "recreate" the tooling
  - jrs235 7y ago
    Or, they were always empty and merely a honey pot to catch anyone trying to break in and steal the technology.
    - blaser-waffle 7y ago
      I'd believe the contractors scamming more money before I'd believe the honeypot. Defense Intelligence isn't that forward thinking.
wil421 7y ago
There is a semi-follow up article from the same source that says tooling was not lost. >Moreover, the Air Force is auditing the Sierra Army Depot to make sure that the F-22 manufacturing tooling is secure—and thus far everything is in order. The audit is 85 percent complete and thus far all of the tooling has been found. Earlier, some Air Force officials had expressed concerns that the equipment had been misplaced—however, those concerns were unfounded as it turns out.[1] [1]https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-us-air-forces-stealth-f-22-raptor-will-fly-until-2060-21329 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-us-air-forces...
- zimbu668 7y ago
  Thank you. That's not nearly as exciting as all of it being stolen by Chinese spies, but "we looked in the wrong boxes at first" is a much more believable answer.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - syshum 7y ago
    Maybe they were stolen.... Copied then put back before the Auditors got their.....
    - gonational 7y ago
      X-Files theme resumes!
    - daotoad 7y ago
      Got their what?
  - blackflame7000 7y ago
    I'd take everything from NationalInterest with a grain of salt. They regularly run outdated articles and conspiracy conjecture.
    - 0az 7y ago
      They also have shoddy analysis. As an example, they advocate for construction of battleships [0]. [0]: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/forget-f-35s-or-aircraft-carriers-trump-needs-battleships-if-war-china-starts-70441 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/forget-f-35s-or-aircr...
      - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
        Probably smarter than building aircraft carriers. My interpretation of why the US still builds aircraft carriers is that it's some combination of bureaucratic inertia (so many careers invested in them) and industry lobbying. They are useful for projecting force against third-world countries, but against a country with a modern military, they'd probably be underwater in the first hour of any conflict.

bsamuels 7y ago

One possibility is they were stolen by an intelligence agency - if so you'll probably never hear about the investigation

hanniabu 7y ago
Either that or they were always empty so they can get another outrageously huge contract to "recreate" the tooling
- jrs235 7y ago
  Or, they were always empty and merely a honey pot to catch anyone trying to break in and steal the technology.
  - blaser-waffle 7y ago
    I'd believe the contractors scamming more money before I'd believe the honeypot. Defense Intelligence isn't that forward thinking.

wil421 7y ago

There is a semi-follow up article from the same source that says tooling was not lost. >Moreover, the Air Force is auditing the Sierra Army Depot to make sure that the F-22 manufacturing tooling is secure—and thus far everything is in order. The audit is 85 percent complete and thus far all of the tooling has been found. Earlier, some Air Force officials had expressed concerns that the equipment had been misplaced—however, those concerns were unfounded as it turns out.[1] [1]https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-us-air-forces-stealth-f-22-raptor-will-fly-until-2060-21329 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-us-air-forces...

zimbu668 7y ago
Thank you. That's not nearly as exciting as all of it being stolen by Chinese spies, but "we looked in the wrong boxes at first" is a much more believable answer.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- syshum 7y ago
  Maybe they were stolen.... Copied then put back before the Auditors got their.....
  - gonational 7y ago
    X-Files theme resumes!
  - daotoad 7y ago
    Got their what?
- blackflame7000 7y ago
  I'd take everything from NationalInterest with a grain of salt. They regularly run outdated articles and conspiracy conjecture.
  - 0az 7y ago
    They also have shoddy analysis. As an example, they advocate for construction of battleships [0]. [0]: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/forget-f-35s-or-aircraft-carriers-trump-needs-battleships-if-war-china-starts-70441 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/forget-f-35s-or-aircr...
    - DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
      Probably smarter than building aircraft carriers. My interpretation of why the US still builds aircraft carriers is that it's some combination of bureaucratic inertia (so many careers invested in them) and industry lobbying. They are useful for projecting force against third-world countries, but against a country with a modern military, they'd probably be underwater in the first hour of any conflict.