Pentagon: Latest F-35 Deal Shaves Unit Cost by 4%

[SvenSvensonov]

The U.S. Defense Department has struck a deal with Lockheed Martin Corp. to buy another batch of F-35 stealth fighter jets, an agreement they say will reduce the aircraft’s unit cost by almost 4 percent.

The world’s largest defense contractor on Oct. 27 issued a press release announcing the deal, which calls for the Pentagon to buy 43 Lightning II aircraft as part of low-rate initial production, or LRIP, lot eight.

No dollar amounts were specified — those are expected to be released once the contract is finalized in coming weeks — but the release states that “the average unit price for all three variants of the airframe in LRIP 8 is approximately 3.6 percent lower than the previous contract.”

Under the previous production contract, the Pentagon in 2013 agreed to pay $112 million per F-35A, the Air Force’s version designed for conventional runways; $139 million per F-35B, the Marine Corps’ jump-set variant; and $130 million per F-35C; the Navy’s version designed for aircraft carriers.

A 3.6-percent reduction would reduce the figures to about $108 million per F-35A, $134 million per F-35B and $125 million per F-35C.

The price tags, known as unit recurring flyaway costs in acquisition parlance, include the airframe, engine, mission systems, profit and concurrency. They don’t include certain other expenses, including those for research and development.

The Joint Strike Fighter is the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons acquisition program, estimated to cost a total of $398.6 billion for a total of 2,457 aircraft. That breaks down to an overall per-plane cost of $162 million, including research and development. The Pentagon has about 100 F-35s in the fleet so far.

The latest production contract will buy 29 F-35s for the U.S. — including 19 F-35As, six F-35Bs and four F-35Cs — the first two F-35As for Israel, the first four F-35As for Japan, along with two F-35As for Norway, two F-35As for Italy and four F-35Bs for the United Kingdom, according to the release.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, who manages the acquisition effort for the government, plans to meet with reporters Oct. 30 to discuss the contract and other program issues. Last month, he said he hopes to have a fix in place for a defective engine part by the end of the year.

Bogdan also said he expects the Marine Corps will begin operational flights of the F-35B jump-jet variant next July as scheduled, followed by the Air Force in 2016 and the Navy in 2018.

From Pentagon: Latest F-35 Deal Shaves Unit Cost by 4% | DoD Buzz

*My Comments;

Israel is buying an additional 25, the UK has announced it is buying another 4, and the US is signing additional deals. Naysayers be damned, all is looking good for the F-35.

Link for the UK F-35 deal - Britain orders more F-35s as part of biggest-ever defence project - Telegraph

 

[Superboy]

Why are these planes so expensive? Is it because the materials used for manufacturing the engines are very rare? They should use tungsten carbide for material, but then again China has just about the entire tungsten reserve in the world The US has no tungsten reserve. Australia has no tungsten reserve. Canada has a very tiny tungsten reserve.

Tungsten - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Mercenary]

Arent British Challenger Tanks made from Tungsten?

 

[Superboy]

Arent British Challenger Tanks made from Tungsten?

Doubt it. That's be hella expensive considering how rare tungsten is.

 

[Aepsilons]

First Japanese, Israeli aircraft included in latest F-35 deal

Key Points

• F-35 LRIP 8 provides for the production of the first two F-35As for Israel and the first four F-35As for Japan
• The deal includes 14 non-US F-35s - the largest number of any production lot to date

Japan and Israel are set to receive their first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter combat aircraft as part of the just-negotiated eighth low-rate initial production lot (LRIP 8) contract, the Pentagon announced on 27 October.

The deal includes 29 US aircraft: 19 F-35As for the US Air Force (USAF); 6 F-35Bs for the US Marine Corps (USMC); and 4 F-35Cs for the US Navy. "It also provides for the production of the first two F-35As for Israel and the first four F-35As for Japan, along with two F-35As for Norway and two F-35As for Italy," the announcement stated. The United Kingdom is to receive four F-35Bs under the terms of the contract.

The Pentagon's F-35 programme manager said in September that he was close to a deal with Israel for F-35s beyond the 19 already signed for five years ago. USAF lieutenant general Chris Bogdan said that deal for additional aircraft would be agreed "probably within the next few months".

Japan, one of the first Foreign Military Sales customers for the aircraft, announced earlier this year that it is considering establishing a regional depot for Asia-Pacific-based F-35 users.

First Japanese, Israeli aircraft included in latest F-35 deal - IHS Jane's 360

The move to host a maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) facility in Japan would be co-ordinated with relevant countries, officials have said.

In the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea has committed to buying at least 40 F-35s, while Australia and Singapore are expected to be future users. The USMC is also expected to deploy its first F-35Bs from US facilities and ships based in Japan.

The United States is planning to establish regional depots in the United States, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan is expected to procure at least 42 F-35s. An initial four are to be manufactured by Lockheed Martin in the United States, but the remaining 38 are to be built in collaboration with Japanese industry.