17 December 2020

Lockheed Martin restates F-35 economic case for UK

by Gareth Jennings

Lockheed Martin has restated the financial case for the F-35 Lightning combat aircraft to the United Kingdom’s economy, claiming it will generate billions of pounds and support thousands of jobs over more than 30 years.

One of the latest batch of three new F-35B aircraft to be delivered to the UK in late November. Lockheed Martin has restated the economic benefits of the programme to the UK economy, ahead of the Integrated Review expected in early 2021. (Crown Copyright)

Speaking to Janes and other defence media to mark the release of an independent economic impact assessment into the programme by KPMG International Limited, senior officials outlined the more than GBP40 billion (USD54 billion) in Gross Value Added (GVA) that the programme is projected to have contributed to the UK Treasury from 2007 to 2038. GVA is the contribution made to an economy by a single organisation, industry or sector.

As noted by the CEO of Lockheed Martin UK, Pete Ruddock, the GBP40.6 billion GVA figure is comprised of GBP28.9 billion of indirect GVA through the UK supply chain, GBP5.1 billion of induced GVA, GBP6.4 billion of GVA associated specifically with Rolls-Royce contracts from 2009 to 2036, and GBP104.5 million of direct GVA through Lockheed Martin activity in the UK.

“We are very confident in these figures, which are conservative,” Ruddock said, noting that the timeline of 2007 to 2038 was chosen for no other reason than that is the period covered by the best current data available. The study considers directly managed Lockheed Martin contracts in the UK, and does not include additional added economic value from other companies such as Rolls-Royce and General Electric.

Lockheed Martin has restated the financial case for the F-35 Lightning combat aircraft to the United...

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