Lockheed, Pentagon Reach $4 BILLION Deal For More F-35 Fighter Jets

US Air Force handout photo of Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II fighter jet
A Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II joint strike fighter flies toward its new home at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in this U.S. Air Force picture taken on January 11, 2011.

Exclusive: Lockheed, Pentagon reach $4 billion deal for more F-35 jets (Reuters, Oct 28, 2014):

Lockheed Martin Corp and U.S. defense officials have reached agreement on the terms of a contract worth about $4 billion for an eighth batch of 43 F-35 fighter jets, sources familiar with the deal said on Thursday.

The contract will lower the cost of the radar-evading warplane by about 3 percent and includes jets to be built for the U.S. military, Britain and other U.S. allies, according to the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

The cost of the U.S. Air Force model of the plane, which accounts for 27 of the 43 aircraft, will go down by nearly 4 percent, said one of the sources.

Both sides had expected to reach a deal in May or June, but the negotiations slowed after a June 23 engine failure on an Air Force jet grounded the entire F-35 fleet for several weeks.

Lockheed Chief Financial Officer Bruce Tanner told analysts on Tuesday that the company was close to reaching a deal with the Pentagon office that runs the $399 billion weapons program, the costliest arms project.

The Pentagon reached an agreement earlier this month with engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, that lowered the cost of the engines that will power the seventh batch of jets by 4.5 percent.

Pratt expects to conclude an agreement with similar cost reductions for engines to power the eighth set of jets after the Lockheed deal is finalized.

Lockheed, the Pentagon’s No. 1 supplier, delivered the first airplane from the sixth lot of jets on Wednesday. It was the 23rd jet to be delivered this year of 36 that are due.

Lockheed has said it has a plan to deliver all 36 jets that were slated for this year, despite the grounding earlier this summer and some flight restrictions that remain in place.

Lockheed and the Pentagon said they were still finalizing the eighth Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP 8).

“We are encouraged by progress taking place and look forward to an agreement in the near future,” said Lockheed spokesman Mike Rein.

Related info:

Pentagon Bars F-35s From Farnborough Airshow After Engine Problems

Americans Have Spent Enough Money On The Broken F-35 Joint Strike Fighter To Buy Every Homeless Person A $664,000 Mansion:

“With the full amount spent on the F-35 at its disposal, the U.S. could afford to purchase every person on the streets a $664,000 home.”

Top US Aircraft Designer: F-35 Astonishingly Unmaneuverable – You Can Guarantee That A Russian 1950s Mig-21 Would Just Hopelessly Whip The F-35 In A Dog Fight (Video)

US F-35 Stealth Fighter Jet Can’t Evade Russian Radars

Money For Nothing? Boeing Says F-35 Isn’t So Stealth After All

U.S. Waived Laws To Keep F-35 On Track With China-Made Parts (Reuters)

Test Pilots: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Blind Spot Will Get It ‘Gunned Every Time’ (Wired)

Pentagon Grounds F-35 Fighter Jet Fleet After Engine Crack Found (CBS News)

F-35 (Ironically Known As ‘Lightning II’) Fatal Flaw: Lightning! (RT)

Trillion-Dollar F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Jet Has Thirteen Expensive New Flaws

NATIONAL SECURITY ALERT: F-35 STEALTH FIGHTER SPY COVER-UP (Veterans Today):

“AN UNPRECEDENTED DISASTER”

 

4 thoughts on “Lockheed, Pentagon Reach $4 BILLION Deal For More F-35 Fighter Jets”

  1. War materials of the 20th century. The war materials of today are economic, not bombs. Just look at what Putin has done to the US and EU with BRICS……he has isolated both of us from the rest of the world economy. We have nothing but fools left in power.

    On another note, far more important, is the question of the real death toll in Japan. It is far higher then the bastards running things are telling us. There has been no word on the 800 plus Fukushima workers sent there last year, homeless and indebted folk sent to work off their debts……..throw away people, especially to Japanese culture.

    Here is a piece from enenews.com.

    http://enenews.com/frightening-doctors-being-threatened-telling-patients-illnesses-related-fukushima-radiation-strange-tumors-kids-dying-pets-dying-higher-incidences-range-health-problems-being-reported-experts?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29

    Reply
  2. Yes Marilyn, but the economic sanctions have worked effectively both ways, and have apparently hurt Vlad, to the extent his liberal softies may just be cowering to the pressure….

    Nevertheless, this pile of obsolete unproven, stealthless junk is becoming the biggest economical burden of the American taxpayer. Rapidly approaching the absolutely ridiculous cost price of one billion dollars….yes….$1Bn per plane, when a senior USAF Commander states its front profile is too easy to locate by radar, it is a white elephant. But it provides the only real jobs in the US!!!!

    Reply
  3. Friend Stanley: Except the billion dollar planes are not built in the US, nothing is. Did you know most planes are now built in China and Vietnam? There used to be safety rules that kept the work in the US, it was over-ridden by GW Bush, so the billion dollar plane profits go into the pockets of the few while fewer aerospace engineers have steady employment.

    A billion dollars tells me the dollar is sliding in value…….don’t let the propaganda about Vlad suffering con you. Russia has debt of 33% to GDP, the US 100% to GDP. Also, only 33% of the world (much consists of the EU) even uses the dollar.
    Vlad may be suffering some knocks and scratches, but he is still in the driver seat.

    A billion dollar plane may sound like a lot. But, the dollar is sliding in value like a stone, explaining a lot of it. The dollar has ridden on the status of being the world reserve currency, and it is no longer, thanks to Vlad taking Hugo Chavez’s package and creating a world economy with it. He has managed to isolate the US and the EU, the rest of the world economy (regardless of what they say on CNN or Bloomberg) is making money. So is Russia.

    The stock market is 85-90% overpriced. I don’t know about the dollar, but I know it is worth far less than the US claims. This is complicated, but don’t get fooled by western propaganda……..the US and the EU are suffering far more than Russia or the east. Money is leaving the US in droves and moving east…….

    Don’t get fooled by momentary spin. Keep your eye on the big picture.

    Reply

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