The Pentagon just gave Lockheed Martin a $4 billion contract for 30 early production model F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The batch of planes, officially known as Low Rate Initial Production lot-5 (LRIP-5), was priginally supposed to include 35 jets. However, the Pentagon cut the deal to 30 aircraft due to cost increases and delays in the fighter's development program.
The Air Force gets 21 F-35As, the Navy gets six F-35C carrier variant jets and the Marines will get three F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) jets.
Here are the details of the contract as included in a Pentagon announcement that came out less than an hour ago:
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $4,011,919,310 fixed-price-incentive (firm target) (FPIF) modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract (N00019-10-C-0002). This modification provides for the manufacture and delivery of 30 Low Rate Initial Production Lot V F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force (21 Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) aircraft); the U.S. Navy (6 Carrier Variant (CV) aircraft) and the U.S. Marine Corps (3 Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft). In addition, this modification provides for associated ancillary mission equipment and flight test instrumentation for those aircraft, and flight test instrumentation for the United Kingdom. All effort will be contracted for on a FPIF basis, with the exception of work scope for the incorporation of certain specified concurrency changes that will be contracted for on a cost-sharing/no-fee basis. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (67 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (14 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (9 percent); Orlando, Fla. (4 percent); Nashua, N.H. (3 percent); and Baltimore, Md. (3 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Air Force ($2,644,270,340; 65.9 percent); the U.S. Navy ($937,374,286; 23.34 percent); the U.S. Marine Corps ($426,190,013; 10.6 percent); and the United Kingdom ($4,084,671; 0.1 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
