US DoD awards first block-buy for F-35

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has agreed a USD34 billion deal with Lockheed Martin for the production and delivery of 478 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft, the company announced on 29 October.

This first block buy is geared at driving costs out of the F-35 programme. (US Air Force)

The agreement includes the 291 United States, 127 international partner, and 60 Foreign Military Sales (FMS) aircraft in Lots 12, 13, and 14. These orders comprise 351 conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variant F-35As, 86 short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35Bs, and 41 carrier-variant (CV) F-35Cs.

As noted by the Joint Program Office (JPO) and Lockheed Martin, this block buy brings the cost of the F-35A down from in excess of USD250 million in Lot 1 to USD77.9 million in Lot 14.

USAF Lieutenant General Eric Fick, F-35 Program Executive Officer, said, “Driving down cost is critical to the success of this programme. I am excited that the F-35 JPO and Lockheed Martin have agreed on this landmark three-lot deal. This agreement achieves an average 12.7% cost reduction across all three variants and gets us below USD80 million for a USAF F-35A by Lot 13 [USD79.2 million] – one lot [and one year] earlier than planned [in 2019].” .

According to Lockheed Martin, the cost of the F-35A in Lot 12 will be USD82.4 million; Lot 13 will be USD79.2 million; and Lot 14 will be USD77.9 million. The cost of the F-35B in Lot 12 will be USD108 million; Lot 13 will be USD104.8 million; and Lot 14 will be USD101.3 million. The cost of the F-35C in Lot 12 will be USD103.1 million; Lot 13 will be USD98.1 million; and Lot 14 will be USD94.4 million.