DoD, industry partners plan to lower the cost of 5th gen F-35s by 2019
NewsJuly 10, 2014
WASHINGTON. The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced an agreement to reduce the price of the F-35 Lightning II 5th generation fighter to the equivalent of the 4th generation fighters by 2019.
Named “The Blueprint for Affordability,” the DoD and BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman (the F-35 industry partners), have signed an agreement to implement cost reduction initiatives to lower the production costs of the F-35.
The agreement is built upon the U.S. Government's Better Buying Power 2.0 initiative, which encouraged defense contractors to determine new ways to reduce the cost of their goods and services. All of the F-35 industry partners will provide their own investments, totaling up to $170 million from 2014-2016.
"This is a significant change in business approach within the F-35 program," commented Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 Program Executive Officer. "Industry partners will make an upfront investment into cost cutting measures that the government and taxpayers will reap benefits from by buying F-35s at a lower cost. By 2019, we expect that the F-35 with its unprecedented 5th generation capability will be nearly equal in cost to any other fighter on the market, but with far more advanced capability."
Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries.
For more information, visit www.f35.com.
