Forum: General F-35 Forum

Pentagon Approves Lockheed F-35 for Continued Development
Tony Capaccio | Reuters

"The Pentagon’s top weapons buyer has officially endorsed continuing development of Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s F-35 fighter jet and set cost targets for when the program enters full-production.

Acting Undersecretary for Acquisition Frank Kendall today signed an “acquisition decision memo” that approves the current development phase and continuation of low-rate initial production contracts."

"The memo discloses that full-rate production, the program’s most profitable phase for Lockheed Martin, has been moved to 2019, a delay of seven years from the original goal that was set in October 2001 and two years later than the current schedule."

"The targets are expressed in a standard measure of aircraft costs -- “unit recurring flyaway,” which represents basic airframe production, in inflation-adjusted “then-year” dollars.

The Navy model’s target is $93.3 million. The latest comparable number is $210.6 million as negotiated in Lockheed Martin’s fourth production contract.

The Air Force’s version has a 2019 target cost goal of $83.4 million, down from $152.2 million.

The Marine Corps short-takeoff and vertical landing version’s 2019 target cost is $108.1 million, down from $172.4 million."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-2 ... pment.html

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is it development delayed, or pushed back because of budget cut.

megasun wrote:

is it development delayed, or pushed back because of budget cut.

No, it's purchases delayed because Venlet determined it was cheaper to delay full rate production until after certain fixes (e.g., the strengthened bulkhead in the B) were in their final form, rather than reap the mass production efficiencies earlier but pay more in having to repair larger numbers of airframes built before the fixes were finalized.

Forum: General F-35 Forum

Kendall signs acquisition decision memo