UPDATE: On July 15, the Pentagon confirmed a Lot 11 deal with Lockheed Martin. DoD Acquisition Chief Ellen Lord provided the following statement to the Defense & Aerospace Report:
“The JPO and Lockheed Martin have made progress and are in the final stages of negotiation on the Lot 11 production contract. We have a handshake agreement which symbolizes the Department of Defense’s commitment to not only equip our warfighters with the world’s greatest 5th generation aircraft, but it also represents great value to the U.S. taxpayers, our allies and international partners. With each production lot, the F-35 Unit Recurring Flyaway (URF) costs continue to come down across the board. We are looking forward to successfully awarding the contract and continuing to provide advanced capability to our warfighter at great value for the taxpayer.”
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Greg Ulmer, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program, says he expects a Lot 11 agreement with the US government within about 30 days, and discusses the company’s June 6 delivery of the first four F-35 Lightning II fighters to the UK, program updates, modernization, sustainment, software stability, the Autonomic Logistics Information System (or ALIS), aircraft availability, and turnaround rates, projected unit pricing, potential new markets for the jet — including Finland and Canada — and much more during a wide-ranging, July 14, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom. Our RIAT coverage is sponsored by Leonardo DRS.
