The Navy said recently it awarded a total of $4.9 billion in contracts to Lockheed Martin [LMT] for the continued development of the fifth-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
The Navy issued a $3.7 billion contract to buy 31 jets: 18 F-35As (conventional Air Force variant), six F-35Bs (Marine Corps short take-off, vertical landing, or STOVL, variant) and seven F-35Cs (Navy aircraft carrier variant). The contract also provides for all assorted ancillary mission equipment.
The Navy also issued $753 million for non-recurring sustainment and logistics support for delivered and projected air systems as well as $374 million for the manufacture and delivery of spare parts in support of 60 jets. The Navy also issued a $48 million contract for engineering, programmatic and logistics tasks supporting the investigation of F-35 air systems.
Pentagon spokesman for F-35 Joe DellaVedova said the details of the agreement will be refined this year and provided at a later date. DellaVedova added there were no international purchases in this undefinitized contract action.
The Pentagon in December finalized a contract for a fifth batch of F-35s, 32 in all, in low-rate production. The $3.8 billion deal covered 22 F-35As, three F-35Bs and seven F-35Cs. Lockheed Martin had already begun work on the fifth low-rate initial production (LRIP) phase of the program after receiving the nod from the Pentagon in 2011, even though the financial terms had not been ironed out. The government and prime contractor had been engaged in difficult negotiations, largely over how the burden of redevelopment–or concurrency–cost should be shared.
DellaVedova said based on the current program of record, the Defense Department is purchasing 2,443 F-35s: 1,763 As; 260 Cs for the Navy as well as 340 Bs and 80 Cs for the Marine Corps. DellaVedova said more than 300 F-35s are planned for international partners and foreign military sales.
The F-35 program has been mired in controversy over massive cost overruns and delays. It is now estimated it will cost $395 billion to produce the planned 2,443 fighter jets with a total life time cost, which includes maintenance and operations, expected to exceed $1 trillion over the next five decades.