WASHINGTON, D.C., September 12th, 2008 — A Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Joint Strike Fighter executive said today that the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is living up to the originally conceived ideal of a tri-service combat aircraft that leverages stealth technology, introduces multi-service interoperability, achieves economies of scale to drive down costs and strengthens important international alliances.
Tom Burbage, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company and general manager of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program Integration, reviewed the F-35 operational requirement and provided his thoughts on the game-changing technologies that are ensuring the delivery of dramatic improvements in fighter capability envisioned when the program was conceived more than a decade ago.
FORT WORTH, Texas, July 31st, 2008 — The U.S. Department of Defense has released $1 billion of funding to acquire six Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft as part of the second Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) contract for the F-35.
The LRIP 2 contract, worth $2.2 billion for a total of 12 aircraft, was awarded in May. At that time the government authorized six conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35As, with release of $933 million, and gave provisional approval for the STOVL jets pending certain requirements. Those stipulations were met by the first flight of the initial F-35B test aircraft on June 11 and by completion of a propulsion system review on July 22. The government exercised the option for the STOVL aircraft and released the $1 billion on July 22.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Inside a manufacturing facility so large that workers routinely bike and ride golf carts down paths named after fighter jets, preparations are underway to begin mass production of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Lockheed Martin Corp. plans to assemble the stealth plane here on a moving assembly line using digital processes and automation techniques that are new to the defense aerospace sector, says Steve O’Bryan of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 business development team.
Though car manufacturers have built millions of vehicles on automated assembly lines, the concept of moving lines has not been applied to military aircraft since World War II.
Modern warplanes typically have been built in small quantities over the course of many years. The Navy’s F/A-18, which has been in production for more than 20 years, is being built at a rate of 42 aircraft per year. But the F-35 Lightning II is expected to be built at an unprecedented rate — as many as 230 fighters per year.
Lockheed has embraced the moving assembly line concept as the linchpin to produce the next-generation fighter in large enough quantities to satisfy U.S. and international sales.
The U.S. military is buying about 2,500 aircraft. Allied nations are purchasing an additional 500 or so. Lockheed Martin officials are expecting foreign military sales to hike the total number to more than 4,000 Joint Strike Fighters.
“You’re really looking at F-16-like numbers,” says O’Bryan.
Once the line ramps up to full-rate production — possibly as early as 2016 — the company estimates it will assemble about 21 fighters per month, or roughly one aircraft per working day. The moving assembly line is the only way to reach that rate of production, O’Bryan says. The F-35 measures 51 feet in length. “If the plane doesn’t move 51 feet a day … you’re not going to produce one a day.”
By Stephen TrimbleThe price tag for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has jumped 27% since the programme’s original baseline estimate.
Average unit procurement cost has risen from $50.2 million to $69.3 million, based on 2002 dollar values, says Maj Gen Charles Davis, JSF programme manager.
Davis, who spoke to reporters via teleconference today, attributed 92% of the cost increase to four factors: fewer planned aircraft purchases by the US military, inflation, a spike in titanium costs and the added overall costs to manufacturer the stealth fighter.
Even as the average cost to buy the F-35 rises, the estimated price to support the jet is falling.
The latest selected acquisition report released on Monday by the US Department of Defense (DOD) shows that the programme’s overall cost estimate has slightly declined.
Those figures stand in contrast to a recently published estimate by the US Government Accountability Office, which projected the programme’s overall cost had jumped about 10% since 2006.
DOD officials are currently considering an option to buy the next 12 F-35s for the second lot of low-rate initial production.
The purchase would include six conventional takeoff and landing F-35As and, after the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant flies, perhaps six F-35Bs.
Lockheed plans to fly the first F-35B in conventional mode in late May or early June, and complete the first flight in STOVL mode with the lift fan system engaged by the end of the year.
March 28, 2008 (by Eric L. Palmer) - The English edition of the news source Sabah, has announced that Turkey has committed to the purchase of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Lightning II.
Sabah also reports that the National assembly of Foreign Affairs Committee confirmed the production contract for the F-35 aircraft. Within the scope of $10.7 billion project, Turkey will purchase 100 F-35A Joint Strike Fighters. These aircraft will be purchased within 10 years.
A Lockheed Martin official close to the F-35 program stated: “The article is a little bit overstated. There are still a few more wickets to go through in the Turkish parliament and it will ultimately require a vote by the full assembly. However, the Foreign Affairs Committee was one of the key committees.”
The aircraft will add a significant increase in firepower to the Turkish Air Force. Consider that the Air Force has a small number of Boeing KC-135R air-to-air refueling aircraft which would add a lot of range to a strike composed of F-35s. If the jet works as advertised, just 4 aircraft could hit more targets - broadly speaking, not specific mention to same level of effectiveness as a squadron of F-16s - at a longer range with more survivability than a full squadron of the aircraft it is replacing: The F-16.
Another force multiplier for the Turkish F-35 will be the 737 Wedgetail project. This is a Boeing new generation 737 set up as an airborne early warning aircraft with a powerful “MESA” radar system. While this program is still in development and has shown some trouble, hopefully it is on the way to proving itself. The radar is capable of simultaneous air and sea search, fighter control and area search.
The developers and warfighters of the Wedgetail aren’t quite sure of the additional combat potential above and beyond its original requirement. There is a long term possibility that this system could perform long range electronic attack. This is the ability to soft-kill or subvert a variety of sensors within the frequency range of the radar.
Assuming there are no serious delays in the F-35 program, Turkish F-35 production and delivery looks as follows. The list below shows the year production is funded and approved, delivery year and number of aircraft built that year: