With only a few months to go before the start of operational testing, the Pentagon has ordered changes to the F/A-22 program to establish a new test plan and benchmark, to evaluate how the stealth fighter is performing. The test program has been split in two, primarily to allow initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) to begin even as some of the aircraft are still being upgraded to their proper configuration. Without the adjustment, F/A-22 testing would have been delayed again, incurring an additional development cost overrun because the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin wouldn't have been able to modify the aircraft in time.
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