Mary-Louise Hoffman
Michele Evans, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin's aeronautics segment and 2020 Wash100 awardee, does not consider the U.S. Air Force's move to replace aging F-15 jets with a modernized derivative from Boeing as a potential threat to the F-35 mission capability, Defense One reported Friday.
The branch placed an initial $1.2B F-15EX delivery order in July under a potential $22.89B indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with Boeing and said it plans to procure 76 units of that aircraft over five years.
“I certainly respect the Air Force, that they've made a decision to procure the F-15EX," Evans told Defense One in an interview.
She added that Lockheed will work to continue driving F-35 updates for domestic and foreign military customers.
Jeff Shockey, vice president of global sales and marketing at Boeing's defense, space and security unit, described the two fighter platforms as complementary and having different mission profiles.
