Jet projects hitting labor snags Delays with F-22, not Joint Strike Fighter, more likely to hurt Lockheed, Boeing

Labor strife is putting fighter jet projects at risk for the country's troubled defense companies, an industry already under siege from years of downsizing.<br><br>A 40-day strike by engineers at Boeing

Monday, April 10th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Labor strife is putting fighter jet projects at risk for the country's troubled defense companies, an industry already under siege from years of downsizing.

A 40-day strike by engineers at Boeing Co. put tests in jeopardy for the $62.7 billion F-22 program and has slowed development of the company's version of the Joint Strike Fighter.

Now, Lockheed Martin Corp. is embroiled in a labor dispute with the Fort Worth production workers who assemble the mid-fuselage of the F-22.

While the F-22 has experienced some setbacks, the delay is slight for Boeing in the competition against Lockheed Martin for the JSF, the most lucrative military aircraft project ever.

Boeing says the engineers' strike has slowed work on its JSF bid, but the Seattle-based company said the impact is "moderate'' so far.

"Boeing was thought to have been ahead as it was," said analyst Paul Nisbet, president of JSA Research. "The strike may have brought them down to an even keel on the Joint Strike Fighter. There's time before the next legitimate milestone."

Lockheed Martin agrees that it won't see an advantage in its competition against Boeing for the Joint Strike Fighter contract.

"It's not a horse race to see who gets there first," said Lockheed Martin spokesman Joe Stout.

Delays with the F-22 program are more likely to financially hurt both companies. The two companies work together, with Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin holding the contract on the jet. Boeing subcontracts the weapons and flight control software, the wings and tail.
The aircraft are being assembled in Marietta, Ga., while the midsection is built in Fort Worth.

Northrop Grumman Corp. makes the F-22's radar. United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit is making the aircraft's engine.
Boeing's strike and the resulting slow pace for the F-22 could cause problems.

The U.S. Air Force told Congress last month that the Boeing strike put testing at risk for the aircraft.

The Pentagon has reported the F-22 is unlikely this year to pass at least two mandatory tests before the Air Force can spend about $2.55 billion moving into production of the next 10 aircraft.

One of the tests, fatigue testing, was to start in August 1998 but was pushed back to July 2000.
It now has been delayed another month because of peeling on wing flaps on two of the three test aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The problem was fixed quickly.

The Air Force said it was traced to a faulty manufacturing process at the Lockheed Martin Marietta assembling facility.

Still, such delays could result in the companies missing the deadlines set out by legislation.

That in turn could provoke Congress to disapprove funding, with severe financial consequences for the various U.S. defense companies that make components for the jet.
"The reason we have this testing regulation is because it's a revolutionary airplane," said Jim Specht, a spokesman for Rep. Jerry Lewis, the California Republican who heads the defense spending subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

"The fact that there was a strike is unfortunate, but that doesn't eliminate the need to ensure that we know all those parts work together before we move into production of any quantity," Boeing says worries about the delays are overblown.

"The strike did slow us in some areas," said Chick Ramey, a spokesman for the F-22 project at Boeing. "While there is some risk, we are confident of meeting the delivery dates."

Still, possible labor problems should be factored in when companies are considering the costs of multimillion-dollar projects such as the F-22 and JSF, according to Mr. Lewis.

"In an industry like aerospace you see a strike in terms of a tornado. It can happen, and it can set you back," he said.

Opponents to the fighter jets say setbacks such as these always add to the plane's price tag.

"What's going to happen is the costs are going to continue going up," said Luke Warren, an analyst for the Washington-based Council for a Liveable World. "I think it's likely there will be another delay."