By Robert Wall and Jon Ostrower
FAIRFORD AIR BASE, England-- Lockheed Martin Corp. and its F-35
Joint Strike Fighter industrial partners will spend $170 million
over two years to help reduce the cost of each of the combat jets
to below $80 million by the end of the decade.
Cost reductions will be achieved a year faster than planned,
said Lorraine Martin, the Lockheed executive who heads the F-35
program. "This is really something novel," she said of the
investment that is shared by others, including Northrop Grumman
Corp. and BAE Systems PLC.
The Pentagon has been putting pressure on industry to bring down
the cost of its most expensive weapons program. The U.S. government
expects to pay about $399 billion for the F-35, including the
purchase of 2,443 jets.
The companies will only see a return on their upfront spending
if costs actually come down, Ms. Martin said. "We will look at each
opportunity with cost reduction," she said.
Affordability of the jets is the biggest concern, said U.S. Air
Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, the government's F-35 program boss. He
applauded the industry initiatives and said if they are successful
the government may also put in funds to help lower costs.
Gen. Bogdan said the government's cost assumptions are more
conservative at $80 million to $85 million per jet in 2019.
Lockheed Martin expects to beat the government figure, Ms.
Martin said, though it will require some government investment,
too.
A more near-term hurdle the program has to overcome, though, is
returning to flight the fleet that remains grounded after a June 23
engine fire on the ground at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The
investigation into the cause of the fire continues, Gen. Bogdan
said.
The planes will return to flight as soon as possible without
compromising safety, he said. "We will not rush the decision," the
General said. A decision has not been made on whether the jet that
sustained heavy damaged can be fixed.
"Problems like this are going to happen," Gen. Bogdan said.
"This is not the last time we are going to have a problem with the
F-35 in development."
The grounding has kept F-35s, which are due to make their air
show debut in the U.K. this month, stuck in the U.S. If the return
to flight clearance is given in time, the planes will make the
trans-Atlantic hop, Gen. Bogdan said. "It is important for the
international community to see that this is not a paper airplane,"
he said.
The grounding so far has not impacted the overall program
schedule which has suffered repeated delays. The latest program
plan had built in a schedule buffer in case problems such as the
engine mishap arose.
The U.S. Marine Corps is scheduled to declare the jets
operational in July 2015.
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