Chapter 523

Chapter 523: Using a Knife to Kill Someone

The FBI, or Federal Bureau of Investigation, is an important intelligence agency in America, established on July 26, 1908. According to Title 28, Section 533 of the United States Code, it is authorized by the Attorney General to "appoint officials to detect crimes against the United States." Other federal laws grant the FBI the power and responsibility to investigate specific crimes.

The FBI is the earliest established modern large-scale alert and law enforcement agency in America, functioning under the U.S. Department of Justice and serving as a key investigation unit. Together with the CIA, the FBI is responsible for national security and covert operations in America.

For both the wealthy and the poor in the country, even public servants in government departments, being visited by the FBI is not a pleasant experience.

Despite this, old Lockheed could not refuse the FBI’s investigation, unless he wanted to admit to colluding with foreign entities and secretly transferring significant military equipment. That would definitely invite a disaster upon Lockheed.

If things got serious, the FBI wouldn’t be polite. For them, incorporating such a fat high-tech equipment development and production company into their fold might even result in some nice year-end benefits for the employees.

Under the increasingly tricky questioning from the FBI, old Florodo Lockheed, the head of the Lockheed family, felt quite irritated. As a major arms supplier in America, bearing part of the nation’s responsibilities, he was subjected to such unfair treatment and suppressed his anger, saying again, "No, no, that’s impossible! I swear on the Lockheed family name that this matter has absolutely nothing to do with our company."

The U.S. Air Force’s deterrent power includes a share of Lockheed Martin’s contributions, yet he was experiencing such treatment now, which felt extremely unfair to both him and Lockheed Martin.

The arrival of the FBI investigation team made the already tumultuous atmosphere at Lockheed Martin feel like the roof was leaking on a rainy night, leaving them in a state of chaos.

"And how do you explain this?" asked Taylor Garcia, the leader of the FBI’s special investigation team, as he changed the projection to display a particular photo. They had directly commandeered the projection equipment upon entering the office.

Although the photo was somewhat blurry, it was undeniable that it depicted a twin-engine, twin-tail jet fighter that closely resembled one of Lockheed Martin’s signature products, the F-22 Raptor.

Florodo Lockheed replied dismissively, "What does that mean? It’s just a fighter jet that looks like an F-22. We have sold many F-22s, but every one of them is monitored by Congress and the military. The purchase orders and scrapping records are tightly sealed, and it’s nearly impossible for any to leak. Given the exposure of the Raptor, it’s not unimaginable that someone might replicate it."

So far, 188 F-22 Raptors had been produced; not too many, not too few. The silhouette presented by the FBI was merely a shadow of a craft that resembled an F-22 and did not prove anything.

Old and cunning, Florodo Lockheed aimed to shift all responsibilities away from Lockheed Martin without yielding any ground.

However, the subtext of his argument remained unspoken: the cost of replicating an F-22 Raptor would not be significantly lower than developing a new one; it could even be more expensive. As long as the core technology stayed protected, attempting to reverse-engineer it was practically a fantasy.

Today’s trouble for Lockheed stemming from the FBI originated from a report by CIA agents in Afghanistan.

A fighter jet resembling the F-22 Raptor had attacked a significant large-scale illegal armed group in Takhar Province, causing substantial casualties and damage.

The illegal armed group mistakenly believed that Americans had attacked them, so they fired numerous surface-to-air missiles at the F-22 Raptor squad that was tailing behind. Naturally, the stationed U.S. military in Afghanistan could not accept such an unexpected disaster quietly; they launched a counterattack without hesitation.

The counterattack eventually turned into a one-sided massacre of Afghan local forces by the Americans, but that was a separate matter.

After all, this was an unnecessary battle; the illegal militants had no issue with the U.S. military as long as they weren’t opposing the government.

However, being used as a pawn was an unpleasant feeling.

Particularly with that unidentified jet fighter immediately attracting the CIA’s attention, which then involved the FBI to conduct domestic investigations.

The CIA responsible for overseas operations investigated the opponents of the illegal armed group engaged in the battle, the Dragoon Consortium controlling the four northern provinces. They discovered that the Consortium simply lacked the capacity to maintain a jet fighter, having managed to buy only four A-29 Super Dodos, three of which had already been shot down.

This fact could be corroborated with information from Sierra Nevada Corporation, which indicated that if they had a jet fighter resembling the F-22, there would be no need to spend money on twelve Super Dodos.

All parties involved in the concealed truth maintained an unspoken silence, and some influential forces backing certain agents were still Americans, with the CIA receiving relatively limited information.

Some unspoken rules were not to be challenged; there were matters that could not be put on the table, even when it came to the machinery of the state.

Hearing old Lockheed’s words, Taylor Garcia’s tone remained unchanged, fully aware that dealing with this old fox required utmost caution.

Taylor Garcia, fully aware of Florodo Lockheed’s extensive experience and mental resilience, took charge of the investigation for this case. He didn’t press further with questions but instead acted on his doubts by pointing his remote control.

A colorful image appeared on the projection screen, an unusual picture composed of warm and cool color outlines.

"This is an infrared spectrum captured by our satellite. Through technical comparison, the infrared spectrum of this fighter jet’s exhaust is nearly identical to that of the Raptor."

Every operational F-22 Raptor has been verified by the military bases it belongs to, and there are no records of loss or disappearance, with at least ten witnesses to each case.

Taylor Garcia was trying to prove that Lockheed Martin had experienced a leak of F-22 Raptors, a very serious issue.

With no problems concerning the active F-22 Raptors, the contradictory questions distinctly pointed towards the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.

The exhaust spectrum of the engine is similar to the unique features of submarines—different engines possess different infrared spectral characteristics. The brightest part of the image featured the infrared spectrum unique to the F119-PW-100 vector thrust engine, along with the distinctive nozzle angles of the dual-vector tail.

So far, the F119-PW-100 vector thrust engine has only been used in the F-22 Raptor.

With such a logical cause-and-effect relationship, only the Raptor could possess this type of engine.

Taylor Garcia presented this image to prove his point.

"Has the military not lost any F119-PW-100 vector thrust engines recently?"

Florodo Lockheed smirked, clearly noticing the other man’s intent.

This statement was equivalent to smacking the military in the face; it was a private secret, and if made public, the military would face extremely serious criticism.

As for whether engines had been lost, besides the U.S. military and Pratt & Whitney being the first and second informants, Lockheed Martin would surely be the third. For suppliers, it was impossible to conceal such matters.

Losing engines was hardly a new issue.

"Alright, we admit that there has indeed been a serious incident involving the loss of engines. However, replacing an engine is not an easy task. Mr. Lockheed, as a professional in this industry, do you really think someone would go through the trouble of building a fighter jet just for an irreplaceable engine?"

Taylor Garcia was well aware of the information relayed from the CIA over a year ago, where a secret military base in Africa was robbed of twelve F119-PW-100 vector thrust engines, leading to extremely severe consequences. Even the base commander and relevant officials were held accountable entirely.

Changing an engine is not a simple matter; it also involves aerodynamics and the internal structural center of gravity design. It’s fair to say that moving one part can affect the whole system.

Changes to the engine often compel adjustments in the fighter jet’s aerodynamic layout, possibly resulting in an aircraft with a completely different appearance.

"Can’t your imagination stretch a bit further? Perhaps someone did do this, or maybe it’s a secret fighter jet developed by another country with an infrared spectrum that closely matches the F119-PW-100. It could even be one of the stolen F119-PW-100 engines; we are law-abiding manufacturers," Florodo Lockheed pointed at the picture.

Although he secretly agreed with the other side to a degree, developing a fighter jet is not an easy task. Even if someone dared to do it, it was entirely impossible. Otherwise, what role would Lockheed have? They might as well leave and find somewhere cooler to be.

However, he could not place himself in jeopardy; if the FBI initiated a factory investigation, Lockheed Martin’s performance for the year would suffer greatly, and the shareholders would not let him off easily.

"We’re not watching a science fiction movie, alright? Mr. Florodo Lockheed! There are no truly law-abiding businessmen in this world. You and I both know this. Have you forgotten about the destroyed factory and the damaged F-35 fighter jets?"

Frustrated by old Lockheed’s unwillingness to cooperate, Taylor Garcia could not contain his anger.

He was trying to have a reasonable conversation, yet the other party kept evading. He couldn’t help but remind Lockheed about the retaliatory actions taken by the French foreign legion against his production facility, hinting that they, the FBI, knew everything.