Marillyn Hewson: Multiyear Contract Would Lower F-35A Price to $80M

Lockheed Martin aims to reduce the price of F-35A fighter jets to less than $80M per unit through a proposed multiyear contract with the Department of Defense's Joint Program Office, USNI News reported Tuesday.

“That’s our target, to continue to drive the unit cost down,” said Marillyn Hewson, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed and a 2019 Wash100 winner.

“We will always be looking at ways that we can take the cost down in the program as it continues to mature and grows.” Hewson added.

The current price tag of F-35’s standard takeoff-and-landing variant ranges between $89.2M and $107M.

Lockheed’s plan to reduce the cost per unit comes as its production nears a full capacity for the program of record.