The oxygen generating systems for pilots aboard the F-22 and F-35 are “very different,” but Lockheed Martin [LMT] evaluates the lessons learned on the F-22 to ensure problems do not arise on its latest fighter jet, the company said yesterday.
Lockheed Martin’s statement came after a Sunday report on CBS 60 Minutes that included two F-22 pilots. The pilots said they and others refuse to fly the advanced stealth fighter because of fear the oxygen system does not work properly, causing dizzying spells and blackouts while airborne. Lockheed Martin builds both airplanes.
“The F-35 program continuously monitors issues present in other aircraft assessing applicability to our current design,” Laurie Quincy, a Lockheed Martin spokeswoman said. “The F-35 and F-22 have common aircraft and oxygen system suppliers; but the systems are very different.”
“The program has leveraged the lessons learned from F-22 development to enhance the F-35 across all subsystems, including the Onboard Oxygen Generating System (OBOGS),” she added. Lockheed Martin was not more specific about differences and similarities between the two systems and referred additional questions on the F-35 to the Pentagon. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office did not return a phone inquiry.
The OBOGS has been at the center of controversy on the F-22 since a November 2010 crash in Alaska that killed the pilot. Air Force officials have since said the OBOGS was not at fault for the accident.
The Air Force grounded the F-22 fleet in May 2011 after reports that pilots were suffering hypoxia and compression sickness following training exercises. The Air Force later lifted the grounding and the F-22 resumed flights.
But the Air Force has continued to examine the OBOGS and acknowledged as recently as March that it has been unable to determine the “root cause” of the problem. The service maintains, however, that the system is not putting pilots at risk (Defense Daily, March 30, 2012).
“I am convinced there is a root cause,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Lyon, director of operations at Air Combat Command said at the March press conference. “We haven’t found a root cause, but what I’m committed to is that we will not leave any stone unturned. We will use every discipline available every form of study and discipline out there to get at this problem, and that is what we continue to do.”