Forum: General F-35 Forum

U.S. slowdown on F-35 purchases to raise cost - Lockheed Martin
OSLO | Tue Feb 14, 2012

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/ ... KJ20120214

"A U.S. plan to drag out purchases of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet would increase "somewhat" the total cost paid by the United States and international allies, Lockheed Martin said on Tuesday.

"It will raise the overall average cost of the total procurement of all the airplanes bought," said Tom Burbage, head of Lockheed Martin's F-35 programme, a day after the Pentagon said it would slow procurement of the fledgling radar-evading aircraft.

Burbage told Reuters the average cost would "go up somewhat" but declined to quantify the effect. "It just changes the dynamics of the cost equation," he said.

The Pentagon on Monday confirmed plans to postpone production of 179 F-35s over the next five years to save $15.1 billion, including $1.6 billion by funding 13 fewer aircraft in fiscal year 2013.

Burbage was in Oslo to discuss Norway's intention to purchase up to 56 F-35. Oil-rich Norway said its plans remained unchanged."

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This next part post also 'includes language' (I watch too much PBS Newshour every day) about wot LM Burbage said as seen above and is excluded for that and other 'usual suspect' reasons....

Kendall: No New JSF Nunn-McCurdy Seen Feb 14, 2012 By Amy Butler abutler@aviationweek.com WASHINGTON

"The $15.1 billion F-35 restructuring — including a cut of 179 fighters through fiscal 2017 — is not expected to trigger a Nunn-McCurdy unit cost overrun, according to the Pentagon’s top procurement officer....

...One reason for the cut was worry over the unknown cost of having to upgrade a growing production fleet of aircraft as design issues arise during flight testing; only about 20% of the flight testing program has been completed. Maj. Gen. Edward Bolton, Air Force budget chief, on Feb. 13 said that his service’s Lockheed Martin F-35 budget is fixed, so any concurrency cost could jeopardize the number of units purchased in a given year.

“The bottom line is, the amount of money we have for the F-35 program, it is what it is,” Bolton said. “If they cost less, we’ll buy more. If they cost more, we’ll buy less.”...

...Kendall notes that the funding profile includes some money for concurrency, but any costs over the budgeted amount would affect the production profile.

The Pentagon’s per-unit estimate of the F-35 will be updated in a forthcoming Selected Acquisition Report that will likely be released in April. It will reflect the price increase owing to shifting 179 fighters beyond fiscal 2017.

The Pentagon also will update the sustainment numbers for the F-35,... (yeah yeah we know about the B/S Trillion Dorrars)..."

I feel like we're the donkey trying to get the F-35-shaped carrot suspended in front of his face Sad

We set the bar way to high on the F-35. We're trying to create a Block 60 F-16 basically from IOC, instead of waiting 30-odd years. The F-16As were decent, nothing great- but they got into service. I'm worried that we won't be able to say the same for the F-35.

What made the Blk60 different from Blk10 (for the F-16) is mostly the avionics.

This is not what is causing the majority of issues with the F-35.

International F-35 Sales Vital to Cost Stability: DoD
Feb. 14, 2012 - 03:07PM |

The U.S. Defense Department is banking on international sales of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter over the next five years to keep the program cost stable, according to a senior Pentagon official.

If those foreign sales do not materialize over that period, know as the future years defense plan (FYDP), the price tag of the jet would grow for both U.S. and allied aircraft, according to Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s acting acquisition executive.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/2012 ... ionstories

Forum: General F-35 Forum

U.S. slowdown on F-35 purchases to raise cost - LM