March 4, 2024 | International, Aerospace
November 15, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Lockheed Gets Interim Payment for First Multiyear F-35 Contract: Pentagon
By Reuters
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin Corp has won a preliminary contract valued at up to $22.7 billion to build a batch of 255 F-35 jets for the U.S. military and its allies, the U.S. Defense Department said on Wednesday.
The department said the deal would allow Lockheed to receive $6 billion in funding immediately, a move aimed at preventing major delays in production of the new stealthy fighter jets.
This contract is the first to lock in multiyear commitments from U.S. allies as Lockheed anticipates that buying components in larger quantities will help move the price of the most common F-35 jet to below $80 million by 2020. The most common variation of the jet, the F-35 A, had a price of $89.2 million after the most recent round of contract negotiations announced in September.
Lockheed is developing and building three models of the new warplanes for the U.S. military and 10 other countries that have signed up to buy the jets: Britain, Australia, Italy, Turkey, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, Japan, South Korea and Belgium.
The Pentagon's chief arms buyer, Ellen Lord, told Reuters on Tuesday that she expected to finalize the interim terms of the deal, known as an "undefinitized contract action" or UCA, with Lockheed, its No. 1 supplier, by the spring of next year.
A Lockheed representative said: "This is a smart approach for the taxpayer, the warfighter and for industry."
According to the Pentagon, Wednesday's agreement means that U.S. allies buy 149 jets over the three-year period. In the United States' one-year deal, it will buy the remaining 106 jets for delivery beginning in 2020.
The U.S. government will continue to buy jets in annual contracts, but is also purchasing components for future-year jets and will also benefit from the economies of scale allowed under the multiyear contract.
The three-year deal, known as the "block buy" among the United States and allies, has been said to be worth more than $37 billion and encompass a record 440 jets.
Wednesday's contract agrees to a high-water mark of $22.7 billion for all of the 255 jets, but that dollar figure is expected to come down during the negotiations while the jet count is considered a minimum commitment.
The interim payment authorized on Wednesday will be deducted from the total contract when the two sides reach a final agreement.
The Pentagon is negotiating a separate contract with Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, for engines to power the jets.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/11/14/business/14reuters-usa-lockheed-pentagon.html
On the same subject
-
-
November 29, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Will the Thai Air Force get more Gripen jets?
By: Valerie Insinna SURAT THANI AIR FORCE BASE, Thailand — The Royal Thai Air Force's Wing 7, home to all of the country's Saab Gripen aircraft, wants more jets. The question is whether the country's defense budget will allow for it, one official said Tuesday. “As operators, we know that this is a very good aircraft, and we would love to have more,” said Group Capt. Prachya Tippayarat, deputy commander of the RTAF's Wing 7. “But it's just that I don't know when. The Air Force will have to think about that.” The RTAF currently operates 11 Gripen C/D fighter jets, bought from the Swedish government and manufactured by Saab. The Air Force lost one Gripen in a 2017 crash that destroyed the jet and killed the pilot. With 11 jets left, it is more difficult to accomplish both training and maintenance, Tippayarat said. “So of course we are looking for the replacement for the 12th one. It's just a matter of when. As the operator, we cannot tell when we are going to have that aircraft,” he said, adding that the service might have other budget priorities. Thailand's 11 Gripen aircraft are operated from Surat Thani Air Force Base, located about 328 miles south of Bangkok. Defense News visited the base Nov. 27-28 and accepted airfare and accommodations from Saab. Surat Thani plays a key role in defending southern Thailand. Although the nation also operates Northrop Grumman F-5s and Lockheed Martin F-16s, Wing 7's Gripens are the Royal Thai Air Force's premier fighters, used primarily for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat, and for secondary missions such as reconnaissance, Tippayarat said. The Thai government is also considering an upgrade of the RTAF Gripens' software suite, he added. The jets are currently configured to the MS19 standard, but the potential upgrade to MS20 would bring the jets into the most advanced configuration for the Gripen C/D. The MS20 software adds capabilities that make the Gripen a more formidable jet for air-to-ground attacks, including an electro-optical pod that allows the jet to drop laser-guided weapons, the addition of Boeing's Small Diameter Bomb and MBDA's Meteor missile, and new radar modes. One MS20 enhancement that the RTAF won't need is the addition of Link 16 capability, the data link used by NATO and its partner nations. The RTAF Gripens run on the Thai military's indigenous network, Link T. If Link 16 functionality is needed, the service can use its F-16s, but operating Link T on the Gripen allows Thailand to protect its homegrown capabilities and information, Tippayarat said. Saab delivered the first Gripens to Thailand in 2011. Other Gripen C/D users include Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic and South Africa. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2018/11/28/will-the-thai-air-force-get-more-gripens
-
November 19, 2021 | International, Naval
Navy looks to get back on schedule for fielding hypersonic missiles on submarines
The Navy's schedule for getting hypersonic weapons on submarines has slipped from 2025 to 2028 ' but the service is trying to leverage learning elsewhere in the program to accelerate that schedule.