Posted on 02/04/2011 2:56:59 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Australia's Quickstep Technologies has signed a long-term agreement with Northrop Grumman to produce parts for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
Under the deal the Australian aerospace manufacturing firm will make access panels, fuel tank covers, aircraft skins, and in-board weapons bay doors, says Australia's minister for defence materiel Jason Clare.
Quickstep has also signed a memorandum of understanding with another Australian company, Marand Precision Engineering, to supply vertical tail skins for the JSF.
The agreement positions Quickstep to secure up to A$580 million ($587 million) in F-35 work over the next 20 years and provide 400 jobs, says Clare, who recently signed a 'global supply deed' with Lockheed.
"Under the agreement Lockheed Martin will put in place a team of people dedicated to finding opportunities for Australian companies on top of the JSF project," he says.
"They are in charge of some big and important projects around the world and this gives Australian companies access to the work that flows out of that," says Clare. "It's a chance for Australian companies to take their expertise to the world."
In May 2010, the then minister for defence materiel, Greg Combet, called on Lockheed to give Australian firms a larger share of the F-35 programme. At the time he said that 28 Australian companies had won work on the programme valued at more than A$200 million, primarily during the initial design and production of test aircraft.
Combet also said that progress in securing additional work had been "slower than expected" in some areas.
(Excerpt) Read more at flightglobal.com ...
Why don’t they just issue the checks and bypass the middleman meaningless exercise in producing an anvil that will never be deployed?
This is part of the outsorcing in keeping the cost of the planes down to a resonable price
The chief cost-cutting benefit of outsourcing is risk-sharing. The supplier absorbs the cost of tooling-up and development, then getting paid at an inflated rate once they begin delivering pieces. This greatly reduces the high development costs to the airframer on the front end, and is made up during actual production run.
However, it does NOT reduce the end cost at all.
The greatest reason for outsourcing, however, is allowing politicians in the outsourced country to buy the aircraft while telling their voters "it's bringing new jobs to our country, in addition to being the greatest military acquisition ever." I suspect this is the case here.
My big question is why does Northrup Grumman have the authority to award contract work on an aircraft that they had absolutely NOTHING to do with developing! Northrup Grumman's horrible design was soundly defeated in the competition for this contract!
Australia is part of the JSF development team.
Ping
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