The Pentagon’s acquisition chief, Frank Kendall, said Thursday the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is on track to ramp up production as planned in in two years “unless there is a significant surprise.”
Kendall told reporters on a conference call that he believes production quantities can increase to 44 in fiscal 2015 and to 66 the following year. The annual numbers of F-35s are currently hovering around 30.
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| Photo by Lockheed Martin. |
“At this point I can say that I am cautiously optimistic that we will be able to raise production as planned,” Kendall said.
Kendall said he believes the Pentagon will make the decision to increase quantities this fall based on improvements that have stabilized the program at levels above where it was a few years ago.
But he also said that the program still has to undergo a considerable amount of testing and development in the areas of aerodynamics, software, and weapons.
“It’s too early to declare victory,” he said, later adding: “There’s plenty of risk left in the program.”
Kendall and the JSF program manager, Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, said some of the progress is also due to better performance on the part of prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT], citing leadership changes the company made on the program.
Kendall said the Pentagon is currently in contract negotiations with Lockheed Martin for the low-rate initial production (LRIP) runs six and seven, but would not say when he expects them to reach an agreement.
“We’re going to continue negotiations until we get a price the government’s happy with,” Kendall said.
The Pentagon is procuring the LRIP 5 run for 32 F-35s at a cost of $3.8 billion, assuming there are no overruns.