Brenda Marie Rivers
The Department of Defense’s F-35 Joint Program Office intends to start negotiations with Lockheed Martin on a multiyear contract for the production of 485 fighter jets for U.S. and foreign military sales customers, Flightglobal reported Thursday.
The potential lots 15 to 17 orders would include 295 F-35s for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps; 143 for development partners; and 47 for FMS clients
JPO looks to award the contract by the third quarter of 2021.
The office declined to eloborate on individual customers or costs but said it expects the aircraft price to be less than $80M per unit by 2020.
The office also didn’t disclose details on the service branches’ F-35 orders, but noted that FMS customers and development partners would get F-35A and F-35B variants.
The Pentagon expects to issue an award during the third quarter of 2021.
