July 16, 2018 | International, Aerospace

Pentagon reaches handshake deal with Lockheed on newest batch of F-35s

LONDON — The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have reached a handshake deal for the eleventh batch of F-35 joint strike fighters, the Pentagon's top acquisistion official confirmed July 15.

The lot 11 order will be the largest so far for the F-35 program, purchasing 141 jets for U.S. and international customers.

"The JPO and Lockheed Martin have made progress and are in the final stages of negotiation on the Lot 11 production contract,” said Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, in a statement.

“We have a handshake agreement which symbolizes the Department of Defense's commitment to not only equip our warfighters with the world's greatest fifth generation aircraft, but it also represents great value to the U.S. taxpayers, our allies and international partners. With each production lot, the F-35 unit recurring flyaway costs continue to come down across the board.”

Neither the Defense Department nor Lockheed disclosed either the total contract value nor the unit costs of the latest order, but a Lockheed spokesperson said the company remains on track to decrease the unit cost of an F-35A conventional takeoff and landing model — the most widely used variant — to $80 million by 2020.

In a statement, the Lockheed spokesperson stated that the total contract value and price per copy would be released once the contract was finalized, but the “unit price for all three F-35 variants went down significantly in the latest negotiation, demonstrating the program's continued progress, maturity and cost reduction.”

A contract for the tenth lot of low rate initial production (LRIP) F-35s, as announced in February 2017, lowered the price of an F-35A to $94.6 million — the first time any version of the joint strike fighter had been sold for less than $100 million. The F-35B jump-jet model used by the U.S. Marine Corps came in at $122.8 million, while the F-35C carrier version sat at $121.8 million.

Lockheed and the Pentagon took longer to reach a final contract agreement than either party would have liked, as the department's F-35 Joint Program Office had hoped to finalize an LRIP 11 contract last year. However, the deal could represent a sea change for the relationship, which soured considerably during the LRIP 9 and 10 negotiations.

After months of LRIP 9 negotiations went nowhere, the JPO in 2016 forced Lockheed Martin to abide by a unilateral contract action, which allowed the Pentagon to set the price of an aircraft and Lockheed's fee without input from the company.

Then, F-35 costs came under fire from President Donald Trump, who publicly lambasted the program and positioned Boeing's Super Hornet as an alternative. The pressure helped the Pentagon and Lockheed make a deal on LRIP 10 in February 2017, with unit costs reduced by about 7.5 percent when compared with the ninth batch of jets.

The announcement of the today's deal follows a $2 billion contract award made to Pratt & Whitney in May for the eleventh batch of F-35 engines. Pratt manufactures the F135 engine used in every version of the jet.

Going forward, Lockheed and the Pentagon will negotiate lots 12, 13 and 14 together as part of a block buy that will initially encompass international orders but could also accommodate the U.S. services as early as lot 13.

The Lockheed spokesman stated that the LRIP 11 deal “along with the technical stability of the aircraft, puts us on a great path to negotiate Lots 12, 13 and 14 as a Block Buy, which will generate additional savings for our customers.”

https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2018/07/15/pentagon-reaches-handshake-deal-with-lockheed-on-newest-batch-of-f-35s/

On the same subject

January 14, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Did your state receive the most defense dollars? We’ve got the numbers.
By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — California topped the list of states receiving defense dollars in 2019, a period in which overall Pentagon contracts and payroll spending in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., totaled $550.9 billion, the Department of Defense revealed Wednesday. Of that total, $403.9 billion (73 percent) were from contracts, with the remaining $146.9 billion (27 percent) tied up in DoD personnel salaries. Overall, defense spending represented 2.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product, according to a department statement accompanying the data. The numbers, released annually, are generally included in the case made by pro-defense lawmakers and Pentagon supporters for the benefits of a large defense budget. They come as defense spending is expected to be flat, with some progressives in Congress pushing President-elect Joe Biden to cut defense funding to support social programs instead. “The report compiled by the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation can be a great tool to state and local officials,” Ellen Lord, undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, said in a statement. “All of our work is aimed at supporting the National Defense Strategy and this report is key as we look to continue defense reform and modernization efforts.” The top 10 states are: California: $66.2 billion Virginia: $60.3 billion Texas: $54.8 billion Florida: $29.8 billion Maryland: $26.1 billion Connecticut: $19.7 billion Pennsylvania: $18.1 billion Washington: $17.8 billion Alabama: $16.0 billion Massachusetts: $15.8 billion California, Virginia and Texas historically rank among the top states in defense dollars. California is home to a significant aerospace presence, with all the major players in that sector bringing in large chunks of cash for their in-state work. Virginia's top firm was the major shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries, but the state largely brought in funding for being the corporate home for many major defense firms — and for their lobbying efforts. And 41 percent of Texas' total comes from Lockheed Martin contracts; the company's Fort Worth facilities produce the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, among other materiel. The top 10 overall contractors for the year were: Lockheed Martin: $45.6 billion Boeing: $25.7 billion Northrop Grumman: $19.5 billion General Dynamics: $18.6 billion Raytheon: $15.7 billion United Technologies: $10.3 billion BAE Systems: $7.3 billion Huntington Ingalls Industries: $6.7 billion Humana: $6.7 billion L3 Technologies: $4.9 billion https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2021/01/13/california-top-state-recipient-of-defense-dollars
June 23, 2021 | International, Aerospace

German government ups the pressure in $1.1B Poseidon purchase petition
As is the case with other large military investments awaiting a decision, the aircraft acquisition would exceed current budget projections here.
November 13, 2019 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

BAE to bring advanced radar jamming tech to US Army aircraft
By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — BAE Systems plans to demonstrate an interim advanced radar jamming technology next summer for helicopters and unmanned aircraft systems that is lighter and smaller than systems available now. The company issued a statement Nov. 12 announcing the U.S. Army awarded it a research and development contract to bring the technology to bear. The system “aims to improve air survivability and mission effectiveness” for aircraft “by detecting and defeating complex and unknown threats in electronic combat," the statement read. BAE will demonstrate the technology in July 2020. The technology is under development within BAE Systems' FAST Labs and combines adaptive radio frequency jamming and sensing capabilities into one system, a company statement noted. “Whereas today's electronic countermeasure systems are too bulky and heavy for most rotary-wing and UAS platforms, BAE Systems technology will combine multiple, software-programmable antennas into a digital phased array that will enable simultaneous functions, exceeding existing capabilities while reducing the size, weight, and power of current systems,” according to the British company's statement. As the Army looks to modernize its capabilities to fight across multiple domains in highly contested environments, the technology, the company said, will enable the aircraft to fly closer to threats and remain protected. Lighter and smaller systems are also crucial, as existing aircraft continues to be weighed down by additional capabilities for fighting near-peer threats. “With the continuously evolving threat landscape, it's critical to provide the next-generation of digital phased array technology to better defend our armed forces in electronic warfare,” Chris Rappa, product line director for radio frequency, electronic warfare and advanced electronics at FAST Labs, said in the statement. “Our technology will give the Army's rotary-wing aircraft and UAS a new, low SWaP [size, weight and power] system to securely and drastically increase their range of movements in future missions,” he added. BAE is planning flight tests within the next few years, FAST Labs Program Manager Ben McMahon told Defense News. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2019/11/12/bae-is-bringing-advanced-radar-jamming-tech-to-us-army-aircraft/

All news

Pentagon reaches handshake deal with Lockheed on newest batch of F-35s

On the same subject

German government ups the pressure in $1.1B Poseidon purchase petition As is the case with other large military investments awaiting a decision, the aircraft acquisition would exceed current budget projections here.

German government ups the pressure in $1.1B Poseidon purchase petition
As is the case with other large military investments awaiting a decision, the aircraft acquisition would exceed current budget projections here.