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F-22 maker accused of fraud in lawsuit

A whistleblower lawsuit accuses defense giant Lockheed Martin of defrauding the Air Force by using defective outer coatings on its F-22 Raptor stealth fighter and lying about meeting contract deadlines.

Darrol Olsen, a stealth engineer, filed the lawsuit two years ago in federal district court in California. The documents were unsealed in May.

Olsen worked at Lockheed Martin from 1995 to 1999, the same years the lawsuit states the fraud occurred. He was fired in November 1999 for “refusal to follow company policy,” according to court papers.

Olsen’s attorney, Samuel L. Boyd of Dallas, is out of the country and cannot be reached for comment, according his office.

Lockheed Martin denies the charges.

“While we are aware of the Olsen lawsuit, the corporation has not yet been served in this matter. We deny Mr. Olsen’s allegations and will vigorously defend this matter if and when it is served,” said spokesman Rob Fuller in a statement.

Lockheed Martin, Olsen alleges, applied extra layers of the coating so the jet could pass the stealth tests required by the Air Force. More than one layer was needed, according to the lawsuit, because the coating smears and rubs off when exposed to jet fuel and solvents. The additional layers passed only some of the tests, according to the lawsuit.

The extra layers, according to court papers, added as much as 600 pounds to the plane, stressing its airframe.

Olsen, the lawsuit states, was told by superiors “to have no communication at all with the USAF.”

The Air Force refused to comment on the lawsuit other than to state the coating’s “performance has been demonstrated successfully through multiple test activities” sponsored and conducted by the government.

Olsen is a stealth expert, according to the lawsuit, having also worked on Lockheed Martin’s F-117 Night Hawk stealth aircraft and Northrop Grumman’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.