Contract negotiations continue between the Defense Department and F-35 stakeholders Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Pratt & Whitney despite the recent engine mishap on an F-35A at Eglin AFB, Fla., according to a DoD spokeswoman.
F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) spokesperson Kyra Hawn said Wednesday information derived from the investigation will inform any actions needed to address future contract modifications that may be required. New findings should not significantly delay program progress, Hawn said. DoD and Lockheed Martin are in low-rate initial production (LRIP) 8 aircraft production contract negotiations while the Pentagon is negotiating LRIP 7/8 engine production contracts with Pratt & Whitney, developer of the F135 engine used in the F-35.
The F-35B supposedly bound for display at an important international airshow has not yet left the United States, Hawn added. The United Kingdom’s F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing variant (STOVL), Hawn said, is still at Eglin. DoD wants to display the F-35B this weekend at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) in the United Kingdom. It also wants to display it at the Farnborough International Air Show, another important event, the following week. Official DoD word on the F-35B flying at RIAT is expected Thursday.
DoD continued its F-35 fleet grounding Wednesday, with the Air Force hitting 16 consecutive days without its variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) flying. The F-35 is developed by Lockheed Martin with subcontractors BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman [NOC]. Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp. [UTX]