Forum: General F-35 Forum

"WASHINGTON Feb 10 (Reuters) - Washington's plan to further slow production of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is prompting its eight foreign partners to rethink their own orders, threatening a vital revenue stream for Lockheed Martin Corp and slowing its drive to make the stealthy new fighter jet as affordable as promised."

"International partners who were banking on the savings as they face their own budget pressures are balking at the shift, according to multiple government and industry sources here and overseas."

"Behind the scenes, the partners are frustrated by such mixed messages and Washington's new go-slow approach, which comes just as the program is showing real progress on flight tests and other technical issues, these sources said.

"They see progress in the test program and are scratching their heads why Washington is slowing down its orders," said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly. "If they're short of money, they should just say so.""

"Lockheed says slowing production will hamper its efforts to lower the cost of the plane. The F-35 will generate about 20 percent of Lockheed's revenues once it hits full production.

So far, the company still expects steady downward movement in the price of the planes, but some analysts question whether further delays in orders could actually drive the price up."

""Everybody says they're committed to this program, but when Washington changes its orders, it destabilizes everybody," said one industry official who was not authorized to speak publicly."

[The U.S. will delay] "orders for another 179 jets until after 2017, bringing the total number of U.S. jets delayed to over 400.

The new plan calls for the United States to buy 244 jets over the next five years, with the partner countries and Israel and Japan slated to buy 285 planes, although it is clear that the international orders will likely drop from that level."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/ ... LC20120211

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Forum: General F-35 Forum

US F-35 production slowdown may delay foreign orders