By Marina Malenic
Lockheed Martin [LMT] would like to see an annual doubling in the production rate of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter until full-rate production is reached, according to the company’s top executive on the program.
“From a manufacturing perspective, the ideal thing is to increase our rate by about 2x year on year until we get to whatever rate we want to build the aircraft, and then hold that rate steady as long as I can,” Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager for F-35 integration, said during a press briefing on Friday.
“Economies of scale are a very important part of this program,” he added.
He said the F-35 is unique among fighter aircraft programs because the F-35’s assembly is not the capacity chokepoint.
“In the past it has been,” he said. “On this program, the capacity chokepoint moves upstream to the heavy machining shops and the advanced composite shops. It’s important that we understand that piece of our supply chain and that we are tapping all potential sources of capacity as we” ramp up production.
Program officials have said they intend to go from the current production rate of one aircraft per month to one per day at full capacity (Defense Daily, Aug. 22).
While the United States is the primary customer and financier of the F-35 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 F-35 program is also unique because every country on contract to purchase the aircraft is participating in its manufacture, according to Burbage.
“Every partner will have at least one component flying on this aircraft,” he said.
Lockheed Martin and its component suppliers are now developing a proposal for the third low-rate production (LRIP) contract.
“We have been working with our suppliers for the last six or seven months to develop a proposal for what those 19 aircraft, plus their sustainment, would cost,” he said.
That lot currently includes 16 U.S. aircraft and three international buys. Burbage noted that the defense appropriations committees in Congress are still working to finalize a number for the U.S. buy.
Burbage said he expects the proposal to be submitted to the joint program office by October. A Defense Acquisition Board review, which would lay the groundwork for a potential contract award in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, is scheduled for November, he explained.