Pentagon Finalises Deal with Lockheed for 71 F-35s
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“Lockheed Martin is extremely pleased with the LRIP 6 and 7 contract signing, which represents a significant milestone for the F-35 programme and its path to enhanced affordability,” says Lorraine Martin, Lockheed’s vice-president and general manager for the F-35 programme. “With each successive production lot, unit costs have declined. That’s a trend we look forward to continuing as this programme moves toward full rate production and operational maturity.”
The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) also issued a statement in the same release hailing the deal. “These agreements are a significant milestone for the F-35 programme, and reflect cost reduction initiatives shared by government and industry,” the JPO says.
The total LRIP 6 contract is worth $4.4 billion, funding the production of 36 aircraft. According to the government and Lockheed joint-released statement, the average aircraft unit cost is approximately 2.5% lower than the previous production lot.
Not counting the price of the engine, which is a separate contract with Pratt & Whitney, 23 F-35A model aircraft are being purchased for $103 million per aircraft, while six F-35B will cost $109 million each. The seven F-35C bought under LRIP 6 will cost $120 milion per jet.
The LRIP 7 contract is valued at $3.4 billion and covers the production of 35 aircraft. The average aircraft unit cost will be about 6% lower than LRIP 5 aircraft. Prices for LRIP 7 aircraft without the inclusion of the engine are $98 million each for the 24 F-35A model jets, $104 million each for seven F-35B model aircraft and $116 million per aircraft for four F-35C aircraft.
Both contracts are performance-based, which means Lockheed will receive incremental payments as it meets various goals set forth in the contracts. Additionally, a concurrency clause in both contracts requires Lockheed to share costs equally with the government for known concurrency changes coming out of testing. “Newly discovered concurrency changes identified during LRIP 6 and 7 production periods will be authorised via engineering change proposals,” the statement reads.
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