The possibility of a five-year Pentagon Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) contract award this year to Lockheed Martin [LMT] for sustainment of the company's F-35 fighter is giving DoD leverage to gain access to more F-35 technical data, a top U.S. Air Force official said this week, in an effort to reduce program cost and improve the fighter's mission capability. The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) has said that the Pentagon may award a five-year PBL contract this year, if the F-35…
