By Marina Malenic
As the Air Force concludes the system design and development phase of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, officials are looking toward a ramp-up in production capacity for the new aircraft.
“While we are on a drawdown on the design and engineering” aspects of the $298 billion program, “what’s really ramping up is the global production, as well as all the site activation within the United States as well as Europe,” Air Force Maj. Gen. C.R. Davis, the JSF program executive officer, told Defense Daily yesterday.
“The technology is not the concern right now,” Davis added. “Ramping up to production rates, getting suppliers energized…I think that’s where we’re going to go through the biggest growing pains.”
Asked whether the difficulties with the engine for the short-take-off-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) variant have been overcome, Davis said they have.
“We’re confident that the [STOVL] engine is going to be back on track,” he said.
A third-stage turbine blade of Pratt & Whitney‘s [UTX] F135 engine failed during proof testing in February, following the discovery of a similar problem last year (Defense Daily, April 12).
Davis said the problems have delayed the JSF program by approximately three to four months.
“We’re disappointed, we wish it hadn’t happened,” he said, “but it’s not going to be a major impact on where we’re going with this program.”
While the United States is the primary customer and financier of the JSF effort, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Norway and Denmark have contributed $4.4 billion toward development costs. Total development costs are estimated at more than $40 billion. The purchase of an estimated 2,400 aircraft is expected to cost an additional $200 billion.
The general said the first of the international orders will be filled next year.
“We’ll have the Dutch and the U.K. buying some of their initial test jets,” Davis said.
Asked whether the U.S. industrial base will be able to handle the production ramp-up, Davis noted that parts for the aircraft will be produced in every country involved in the effort.
“Our production system has always been global,” Davis said. “As this expands…we will be building significant portions of the airplane in…all of the eight countries” currently signed on to the program.
Final assembly for all the aircraft is being conducted at Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] Ft. Worth, TX, facility.
The next country expected to sign on to the program is Israel, Davis said.
“We hope to sign a letter of offer of acceptance with the Israelis,” he said. That agreement could be finalized early next year, depending on the pace of the negotiations currently under way, according to Davis.
He added that Israel is currently expressing interest in purchasing 25 aircraft, but has discussed eventually increasing that target to 100.
In addition, Singapore is in the process of signing security agreement documents that would pave the way to an agreement. Davis said a Singapore sign-on could be “about a year behind the Israelis.” He said both countries have expressed a desire for delivery of aircraft in 2014.
Meanwhile, officials tell Defense Daily that the Air Force has added $5 billion to the program in its 2010-2015 budget plan. The infusion would allow the service to begin purchasing aircraft sooner, perhaps as early as 2001, according to one official. It would also allow for the procurement of 100 or more per year beginning in 2015, instead of the 80 currently planned.