Lockheed Martin Corp is in the final stages of negotiating a deal worth more than $37 billion to sell a record 440 F-35 fighter jets to a group of 11 nations including the United States, two people familiar with the talks said.
This would be the biggest deal yet for the stealthy F-35 jet, which is set to make its Paris Airshow debut this week.
The sale represents a major shift in sales practices from annual purchases to more economic multi-year deals that lower the cost of each jet.
The pricing of the jets was still not final, though the average price of the 440 jets was expected to be $85 million, the people said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations publicly.
The multi-year deal for the fighters will consist of three tranches over fiscal years 2018-2020.
[...] Last week, representatives from 11 F-35 customer nations met in Baltimore, Maryland to discuss terms and toured a Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) facility in Maryland that provides equipment for the jet. Those nations included Australia, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, South Korea, Britain and the United States.
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Overall fleet-wide monthly availability rates remain around 50 percent, a condition that has existed with no significant improvement since October 2014, despite the increasing number of new aircraft. One notable trend is an increase in the percentage of the fleet that cannot fly while awaiting replacement parts – indicated by the Not Mission Capable due to Supply rate.
[...] Total acquisition costs for Lockheed Martin Corp.'s next-generation fighter may rise about 7 percent to $406.5 billion, according to figures in a document known as a Selected Acquisition Report. That's a reversal after several years of estimates that had declined to $379 billion recently from a previous high of $398.5 billion in early 2014.
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(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 19 2017, @01:44PM (2 children)
NATO members don't need this non-working plane. They need 2 other types of plane, fighters for air-superiority and bombers. And with current war theaters, and what I can think of nearby future, it needs significantly more bombers.
And for the bombers, lets face it, WWII era stuff is probably good enough with the enemies we currently face. That may be exaggerated a bit, but A-10's and other similar are doing well.
A bigger research value I can see is in a new type of helicopter/plane, like used in Vietnam. Quick in/out of troops for missions over long distance. Add the ability to stay in the area as offensive air-ground platform for extended time. That's worth a lot.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Monday June 19 2017, @03:03PM
The US is going the opposite of what you are suggesting. Multi-role fighter/bomber and ditch the A-10. Also ditching the Kiowa helicopter and use Blackhawks/Apaches instead. It's going to suck for anyone needing ground support this next decade. Unless you're fancy enough to get an AC-130.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 19 2017, @03:10PM
> WWII era stuff
Military aircraft have always been expensive. It's been reported that the B-29 was the most expensive weapons program ever (at the time) -- out-spending the Manhattan Project (A-bomb). The B-29 was designed to have enough range for heavy operations around the Pacific Ocean, including capacity to carry the early atomic bombs.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Monday June 19 2017, @02:32PM
Consumers already expect pre-order bonuses when putting down cash for games that haven't been released yet - this better come with at least a gold-paint chassis skin mod or something.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday June 19 2017, @08:10PM
> the average price of the 440 jets was expected to be $85 million
It's a bit like US healthcare, really.
The US has been paying an obscene amount, now foreign markets will get the same one much cheaper, and have better outcomes.