Lockheed Cuts Prices for F-35 Fighter Jets
By Debbie Gregory.
The U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin Corp. have reached an $11.5 billion deal for 141 F-35 stealth fighter jets that brings the aircraft to its lowest price in program history.
Most of the jets are for the U.S. military, and others are for a number of allied countries.
The $11.5 billion contract is for 102 A-variant of the stealth fighter jet used by the Air Force, 25 of the B-variant used by the Marine Corps, and 14 of the C-variant used by the Navy. The prices will come in at 5 to 11 percent less than previous rates.
“Driving down cost is critical to the success of this program,” Vice Adm. Mat Winter, the F-35 program executive officer, said in the statement. “We are delivering on our commitment to get the best price for taxpayers and warfighters.”
The Navy will see the biggest price drop under the deal. The 14 new aircraft-carrier variants of the Lightning II will cost $107.7 million each — an 11.1 percent drop from the $121.2 million price tag on the last batch.
The Marine Corps will see a 5.7 percent drop on its short-takeoff and landing variant, down from the $122.4 million under the last deal. The Air Force’s savings come in at a 5.4 percent decrease.
The White House has been critical of the F-35 program for delays and cost overruns, but the price per jet has declined as production increased. The price of the last batch of F-35A’s in 2017 cost 7 percent less than the previous jet order.
Prices should continue to fall, as Lockheed ramps up production to meet the military’s requirements in coming years.
The F-35 program is aiming to expand the fleet to more than 3,000 jets and bring the unit price of the F-35A closer to $80 million in 2020 through efficiencies gained by ordering in larger quantifies.
