The recently-confirmed Pentagon official in charge of testing and evaluating weapons programs for the entire U.S. military recused himself from any cases involving the number one American defense contractor Lockheed Martin, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
Douglas Schmidt, Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (OTE), said he could not personally involve himself in rendering appraisals on Lockheed Martin programs ahead of a House subcommittee hearing on fixed-wing fighters, including Lockheed’s star F-35 Lightning III fighter, on April 16. While he was never on Lockheed’s payroll, typical of the problematic “revolving door” phenomenon when people hop back and forth between Department of Defense (DOD) organizations and defense industry groups, Schmidt did serve as an expert witness for a law firm representing Lockheed’s Sikorsky Aircraft arm in 2022, he told…
