That is of course only the Air Force version model A. B and C cost more
Posted on 06/19/2017 12:31:38 AM PDT by Krosan
Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) is in the final stages of negotiating a deal worth more than $37 billion to sell a record 440 F-35 fighter jets to a group of 11 nations including the United States, two people familiar with the talks said.
This would be the biggest deal yet for the stealthy F-35 jet, set to make its Paris Airshow debut this week.
The sale represents a major shift in sales practices from annual purchases to more economic multi-year deals that lower the cost of each jet.
The pricing of the jets was still not final, although the average price of the 440 jets was expected to be $85 million, the people said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations publicly.
The multi-year deal for the fighters will consist of three tranches over fiscal years 2018-2020.
A Lockheed representative said the U.S. company does not discuss negotiations on contracts and said any deal involving a "block buy" would be announced by the U.S. government. A representative for the customers including the United States did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Last week, representatives from 11 F-35 customer nations met in Baltimore, Maryland to discuss terms and toured a Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) facility in Maryland that provides equipment for the jet. Those nations included Australia, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, South Korea, Britain and the United States.
The memorandum of understanding being negotiated between Lockheed and the customers aims to procure 135 or more jets in fiscal year 2018 for delivery in 2020 for about $88 million per jet, the people said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
F-35 critics, where are you?
Substantially lower than the 135 million dollars per aircraft I saw in recent articles. Wonder if the 80-88 million dollar price tag is without engine?
I’ll like the Nissan
Great choice, sir. Only $17,000.
Wow! Great price! What kind of and engine does it have?
Engine? You wanted an engine with the car?
Well, that’ll be extra. A lot extra.
Buying in bulk is (almost) always cheaper.
Instead of Israel buying 8, Australia buying 12, etc - the price probably is 135 million.
But when you get a co-op together for a 440 aircraft purchase, everything gets cheaper, from the tires to the hydraulic carts.
Yes. At one point the US intended to buy about 32 of our new Zumwalt-class destroyers. They weren’t cheap, but the price was considered somewhat reasonable at the time. Then the quantity started dropping. I think we will now build only 3 Zumwalts. Boy! Those things sure cost an arm and a leg! But they could have been cheaper.
These are full planes. They are F-35A - the cheapest model. Prices have fallen steadily so the $135 might be an earlier block or a B/C variant.
They have to go into deep conspiracy theories for this one. President Trump can’t get the allies on his side on a mere $1 billion climate thingy deal, but supposedly Lockheed Martin is able to get $37 billion for a plane that they say is a turkey, a lawn dart, a lemon and overall useless.
Thanks for your replies.
Glad that the price is down.
While bulk buying (or, in this case, large lot buying) is a known way to realize production cost savings, it would sure be interesting to see a detailed price comparison with previous block purchases. Of particular interest would be the large cost decreases and the explanation of the specifics of how the cost savings were realized.
turkey? Um no. We just inked an arms deal with Saudi Arabia.. the birthplace of 9/11.. fighter jets for Turkey? While they still hold Americans as hostages/prisoners We are stuck on stupid.
That was a bit of a joke. There is this guy - Pierre Sprey - who absolutely hates the F-35. He is the go to guy for everoyne wanting to shit on F-35. That guy is a shameless self promoter and does not balk at lying. He is also very bitter as he was heavily promoting a strategy where all the military planes would be extremely cheap and low tech, but the enemy would be overwhelmed by the numbers.
My “turkey” remark was a reference to him calling what ended up the most successful jet fighter in history - F-15 - a flying turkey (of the thanksgiving variety of course).
That is of course only the Air Force version model A. B and C cost more
Thanks for your quick research on my question.
A better than 100% reduction in flyaway cost in 7 years. As I noted before, it sure would be interesting to know the where and how of those cost savings.
Or shall we just chalk it up to the usual culprit: amortization of the un/underfunded company R&D program costs over the first production batches (followed by price reduction to the real item cost)?
Thanks again!
Trump should take Turkey off the list.
We’d lose the Bosphorus Strait.
For Russia to make tactical use of the Bosphorous Strait, they have to pass through the Sea of Marmara and down waterways that lead from it to the open Aegean Sea, where our defenses would have no problem intercepting them - if that were the security situation.
The price for US military sales included the development costs, divided among the planes. The marginal cost of cranking out additional planes is much lower.
11 angry countries once they start using it.
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