Posted on 11/23/2024 6:12:26 AM PST by Fish Speaker
WASHINGTON — After protracted negotiations, the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have reached an informal agreement, known as a “handshake deal,” for the next two production lots of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the parties confirmed to Breaking Defense.
“We have reached an initial agreement as part of ongoing negotiations for the Lot 18/19 Air Vehicle Production Contract,” the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) and Lockheed said in a joint statement.
The statement did not share final quantities or prices, saying only that those figures will be disclosed “when a final agreement is signed.” The news was first reported by Air & Space Forces Magazine, which stated the agreement covers roughly 300 aircraft.
Progress on F-35 negotiations is likely welcome news to Lockheed, which has recently been funding the tri-variant stealth fighter’s production out of pocket as talks dragged on. A Lockheed executive told Breaking Defense last year that the aerospace giant aimed to finalize the lot 18/19 deal by the end of 2023, marking a significant delay for the negotiations. The program has recently battled inflation woes, supply chain challenges and technical problems that halted deliveries of upgraded jets for a full year.
It’s not clear what the price might be for the forthcoming jets, though Lockheed has telegraphed that inflation may hike costs. Jets in lots 15 through 17 came in at an average price of $82.5 million for the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A, $109 million for the short takeoff and vertical landing F-35B and $102.1 million for the carrier-launched F-35C, Breaking Defense previously reported.
Unlike the previous contract structure that included three production lots, the upcoming F-35 deal only covers two. Officials have discussed lot 20 serving as the first multi-year production agreement. Lockheed maintains that its Fort Worth, Texas, plant can build 156 jets annually.
If the past is any guide, it could be several months before an agreement is inked. When the two parties reached a similar handshake agreement for lots 15-17 in July 2022, the contract was not finalized until December of that year.
Asked when Lockheed planned for the 18/19 deal to become official, a company spokesperson referred Breaking Defense to comments from Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave during the firm’s third quarter earnings call in October. Malave said then that company officials anticipated the lot 18/19 contract will be awarded this year.
“The check cleared.”
Wonder if there have been enough fixes/changes/updates to justify a new name - for some reason, “Albatross II” comes to mind...
What about something better ?
imho it’s criminal to continue to make these large, overly complex jets, as we are seeing the next war will be fought with drones and unmanned craft. Continuing to fork out millions (billions) for these aircraft is little more than graft at this point.
"Last year, the F-35 Joint Program Office launched an effort—the 'War on Readiness'—to raise the aircraft's mission-capable rate by 10 percent by the end of March 2024. However, officials said readiness only rose 2.6 percent within that year, up to 55.7 percent. 'We're not where we need to be on our mission-capable rates, but we have put the elements, I think, into the system that has shown us a path of how we can get there,' Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, F-35 program executive officer, told reporters last month."
F-35s still missing readiness goals, despite rising spending Defense One, 21 October 2024.
About half don't fly.... But the checks get cashed, so it's okay. / sarc
Of course they did. Before Trump can stop it.
Why? Because of the top four owners of Lockheed Martin:
State Street
Vanguard
BlackRock
Charles Schwab Corporation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin
Are the NWO, MIC, and WEF connections not clear enough yet?
Probably not now. The F-22 died a premature death because of the way the program was structured. Primarily the “No Exports” law.
The F-35 was the open-architecture program where foreign sales were guaranteed and the Tier-one customers had invested in development. Considering the escalating costs of modern jet aircraft, this was probably the only way to go.
Lockheed evidently recognized this and didn’t make any serious attempt to ‘save’ the F-22.
Then again, the Israelis used F-35s to great effect in Iran. So they are not quite so useless as you think. Drones don’t have brains, and can’t take advantage of things on the spur of the moment, whereas a human piloted vehicle can do so.
This is definitely a good debate to have, especially in light of our budgetary concerns, and our new president stated goal of reducing tensions throughout the world. Perhaps we don’t need these new lots, perhaps we do. I would say that a definitive statement, one way or the other is premature.
Once again, we can rely on El RushBo’s sage advice. Before President Trump was elected in 2016, Boeing received the contract for the new Air Force One. The price was $4 billion. By the time President Trump finished meeting with them, it was TWO planes for the same $4 billion.
Whatever a man, an administration has done, a better man can alter.
Why? The F-35 can’t hold a candle to the F-22...
That’s comparing a VW beetle to a Lotus...
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