U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin has reached an agreement in principle for the next two F-35 Lightning II aircraft production ...
A decrease in F-35 LRIP 6-7 unit costs, coupled with negotiating lower prices on a number of other smaller contracts, will allow the Department to purchase all the aircraft originally planned, including those that were in jeopardy of being cut due to sequestration budget impacts.
Cost details will be released once both contracts are finalized; however, in general, the unit prices for all three variants of the U.S. air vehicles in LRIP-6 are roughly four percent lower than the previous contract. LRIP-7 air vehicle unit prices will show an additional four percent reduction. The LRIP-7 price represents about an eight percent reduction from the LRIP-5 contract signed in December 2012.
The LRIP-6 and -7 aircraft will join the 95 F-35s contracted under LRIPs 1-5. To date, 67 F-35s (including test aircraft) have been delivered from Lockheed Martin's production facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The U.S. and eight partner nations plan to acquire more than 3,100 F-35 fighters. Israel and Japan have also announced plans to purchase the jet under Foreign Military Sales agreements.
The agreement in principle reached between the Government and Lockheed Martin are for air vehicles and do not include the propulsion systems. The LRIP-6 engine contract is currently being negotiated between the Government and Pratt & Whitney.
The new contracts will also include the first F-35s for Australia, Italy, Norway, and the fourth F-35 for the United Kingdom. In addition to procuring the air vehicles, these contracts also fund manufacturing-support equipment and ancillary mission equipment.
Deliveries of 36 U.S. and partner nation aircraft in LRIP-6 will begin by mid-2014 and deliveries of 35 U.S. and partner nation aircraft in LRIP-7 will begin by mid-2015.
Source: www.lockheedmartin.com
