HAMPTON, Va. — The Air Force failed to provide sufficient information to lawmakers regarding its plans to retire some F-22 Raptors, according to the Government Accountability Office, which, in a new report warned: "Congress may be impeded from making a well-informed decision."
The GAO said lawmakers weren't provided enough information regarding the Air Force's decision to retire 32 of its older Block 20 variants of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.
The GAO said: "The Air Force didn't note key details such as how to train without Block 20s or whether they should be upgraded instead of retired."
GAO National Security Acquisitions team Director Jon Ludwigson said more information "would be helpful."
"What they did is they made a decision. But from our perspective they didn't document it and they didn't necessarily account for all the features that go into the decision they made," said Ludwigson in an interview Friday with 13News Now.
Federal law includes a provision to prohibit the Air Force from divesting the aircraft until fiscal year 2028.
Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) said decisions of this magnitude "can't be made in a silo."
"And I think that GAO report raises a lot of questions. The Air Force may have answers to the questions. But the GAO is basically saying you're not putting enough information on that table to enable everyone to reach the most rational decision about divestment."
Kaine continued: "If the GAO feels like they're not getting enough information about the divestment, then we need to get more information from the Air Force."
The GAO made two recommendations. The Air Force disagreed with both of them.