SLOW LANE? AIR FORCE DELEGATION QUESTIONS PACE OF F-22 TESTING.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Top Air Force and Lockheed Martin officials visited Edwards Air Force Base last week to discuss the pace of F-22 testing, which Air Force officials said was not going as quickly as they want.

After the session, Air Force Materiel Commander Gen. Lester Lyles said he was confident the group came up with answers, including giving Edwards' commander Maj. Gen. Doug Pearson more responsibility to look at priorities for test activities and support.

``We are not on the schedule of testing that we thought we should be,'' Lyles said, according to a base announcement. ``We wanted to understand what the impediments are and work together on a game plan to remove any constraints and move ahead with a successful flight test program.''

The General Accounting Office in March told Congress that initial production rates for the fighters should be cut back because of delays in completing the test aircraft and in flight-testing them.

The Air Force last year extended completion of the development flight-testing, delayed by eight months the start of operational testing, and eliminated some tests, the GAO report said.

``The F-22 program did not meet key schedule goals for 2001, the cost to complete planned development is likely to exceed the $21 billion reported to Congress, and the program is not far enough along in flight-testing to confirm Air Force estimates of the aircraft's performance,'' the GAO report said.

Producing airplanes before they are adequately tested can be costly, if further testing identifies problems that require modifications, the report added.

The Air Force and Lockheed Martin officials are looking at problems involving integrating aviation electronic gear and fin buffeting but said the problems are not insurmountable, Edwards' announcement said.

The Air Force delegation was led by Secretary of the Air Force James Roche, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper and Lyles.

Lockheed Martin executives attending the Raptor program review included Vance Coffman, chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., Dane Hancock, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Corp., and president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., and Bob Rearden, the company's F-22 program vice president and general manager.

Accompanying the Air Force group was Marvin Sambur, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, Darlene Druyun, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition and management, and Maj. Gen. Ken Peck, commander of the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center.

The majority of the Air Force officials arrived July 7 and departed the next day. Lyles stayed an additional day for updates on other Edwards test programs and quality-of-life initiatives.

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(color) Flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base for the F-22 Raptor were extended last year.