Lockheed Martin [LMT] is witnessing growing international interest in the short-takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a company official said recently.
Steve O’Bryan, the company’s F-35 vice president for program integration and business development, said more nations are expressing interest in the F-35B but did not identify them by name.
“We have more interest in the F-35B from different countries,” O’Bryan said. “We continue to answer those requests for information.”
O’Bryan was speaking to reporters during a conference call shortly after the program got a major boost from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who announced recently that the F-35B, which is being procured by the U.S. Marine Corps, was being removed from probation one year early.
There are several international partners on the F-35 program. The United Kingdom is a top partner, while tier two and three countries are Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway.
The program has gotten significant support from other countries as well. Japan in December chose the F-35 as its next generation fighter over Boeing’s [BA] rival F/A-18 Super Hornet. Israel has selected the F-35, and South Korea is also considering the Joint Strike Fighter.
The F-35B, however, took a blow last year when the United Kingdom switched from buying that variant to the F-35C, which is designed to operate off large aircraft carriers and is being bought by the U.S. Navy.
Despite the progress being made in resolving the F-35B’s problems, London has shown no signs reverting to the STOVL variant, O’Bryan said. “We’ve seen no change or indications of change,” he said.
Panetta’s predecessor Robert Gates put the F-35B program on a two-year probationary program a year ago, slowing the acquisition process to give more time to work out problems associated with STOVL. Had the program not made adequate progress in resolving the challenges, it faced possible cancellation.