- The Pentagon announced that it signed a $34 billion F-35 contract with Lockheed Martin. These are the details about the deal.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that it signed a $34 billion F-35 contract with Lockheed Martin — which is the largest contract for the fighter program so far. This deal is for the delivery of 478 F-35 aircraft.
The F-35 program had received criticism for cost overruns during the development and the total projected cost of the program during the lifetime of the jets. As of 2017, the program was expected during its lifetime to cost $406.5 billion for the acquisition of the jets and $1.1 trillion for the maintenance and operations according to a Bloomberg report back then.
Some of the setbacks with the program included faulty ejection seats and software delays. As part of the agreement, the F-35 Enterprise meets and exceeds the cost reduction targets for each variant and the F-35A unit price, including the aircraft and engine is now below $80 million in both Lot 13 and Lot 14. The F-35A unit cost represents an estimated overall 12.8% reduction from Lot 11 costs for the conventional landing variant and an average of 12.7% savings across all three variants from Lot 11 to 14.
“Driving down cost is critical to the success of this program. I am excited that the F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin have agreed on this landmark three-lot deal. This agreement achieves an average 12.7 percent cost reduction across all three variants and gets us below $80 million for a USAF F-35A by Lot 13 – one lot earlier than planned,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Eric Fick, F-35 Program Executive Officer. “This $34 billion agreement is a truly historic milestone for the F-35 Enterprise.”
The Lockheed Martin fifth-generation F-35 has three variants: the F-35A (U.S. Air Force), the F-35B (U.S. Marine Corps), and the F-35C (U.S. Navy). And the cost reduction for these variants was 12.8%, 12.3%, and 13.2%, respectively.
“With smart acquisition strategies, strong government-industry partnership and a relentless focus on quality and cost reduction, the F-35 Enterprise has successfully reduced procurement costs of the 5th Generation F-35 to equal or less than 4th Generation legacy aircraft,” added Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin, F-35 Program vice president and general manager. “With the F-35A unit cost now below $80 million in Lot 13, we were able to exceed our long-standing cost reduction commitment one year earlier than planned.”
The sub $80 million unit recurring flyaway cost for an F-35 represents an integrated acquisition price for the 5th Generation Weapon System. And with embedded sensors and targeting pods, the F-35 unit price includes items that add additional procurement and sustainment costs to legacy fourth-generation aircraft.
With over 450 aircraft operating from 19 bases around the globe. Over 910 pilots and 8,350 maintainers have been trained. And the F-35 fleet has surpassed over 220,000 cumulative flight hours. There are eight nations that have F-35s operations from a base on their home soil and seven services declared Initial Operating Capability.
The F-35 is built by thousands of men and women in America and around the world. The program has over 1,400 suppliers in 46 states and Puerto Rico. And the F-35 Program supports over 220,000 direct and indirect jobs in the U.S. alone. Plus the program also includes over 100 international suppliers thus creating or sustaining thousands of jobs.
