Lockheed Martin wins $920 mn contract for production of 94 F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft

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Lockheed Martin wins $920 mn contract for production of 94 F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft
 
The US Department of Defense announced on June 4th it has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth more than $920 million to manufacture 94 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets for production testing by the US military and several foreign countries. “Lockheed Martin Corp… is being awarded a $920,350,132 advance acquisition contract for long lead time, materials, parts, components, and effort for the manufacture and delivery of 94 F-35 Lightning II low-rate initial production aircraft,” the release said.
     
The US Department of Defense announced on June 4th it has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth more than $920 million to manufacture 94 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets for production testing by the US military and several foreign countries. “Lockheed Martin Corp… is being awarded a $920,350,132 advance acquisition contract for long lead time, materials, parts, components, and effort for the manufacture and delivery of 94 F-35 Lightning II low-rate initial production aircraft,” the release said. Lockheed Martin assembling plant in Fort Worth, Texas
     
US law defines “low-rate initial production” as a phase in which major acquisitions are delivered in limited quantities for operational testing and evaluation before ramping up to full production volumes.

Lockheed is slated to complete the test production order by May, 2019, according to the release.

Lockheed Martin is being awarded a $920,350,132 advance acquisition contract for long lead time, materials, parts, components, and effort for the manufacture and delivery of 94 F-35 Lightning II low rate initial production aircraft. This contract provides for 78 F-35A aircraft for the Air Force (44), the government of Italy (2), the government of Turkey (2) ; the government of Australia (8); the government of Norway (6); and for various foreign military sales customers (16). In addition, this contract provides for the procurement of 14 F-35B aircraft for the Marine Corps (9), the government of Britain (3) and the government of Italy (2), as well as 2 F-35C aircraft for the Navy and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (55 percent); El Segundo, California (15 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (10 percent); Orlando, Florida (5 percent); Nashua, New Hampshire (5 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (5 percent); and Cameri, Italy (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in May 2019.

This contract combines purchase for Foreign Military Sales program customers ($352,102,228; 38 percent); the Air Force ($227,666,000; 25 percent); non-U.S. Department of Defense participants ($207,086,904; 22 percent); and the Navy/Marine Corps ($133,495,000; 15 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole fighters undergoing testing and final development by the United States. The fifth generation combat aircraft is designed to perform ground attack, aerial reconnaissance, and air defense missions. The F-35 has three main models: the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, the F-35B short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) variant, and the F-35C carrier-based Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) variant.