Air Force Says Negotiations Are 'In The End Game'

The USAF head of the F-35 program says that the Air Force and Lockheed Martin are close to finalizing two contracts for 160 Lightning II airplanes, but would not speculate when an official announcement would be made.

Reuters reports that Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan said on the sidelines of the Royal International Air Tattoo on Saturday that all major issues had been resolved, and the ball is now in Lockheed's court.

Lockheed said on Thursday that an agreement was expected to be reached soon for the ninth and 10th production contracts for the new airplane. The contracts would likely be valued at between $14 and $15 billion.

Bogden also said that, in an effort to drive the cost of the plane down, he was working on block buy deals for international partners. Lockheed F-35 program manager Jeff Babione said that the price for the F-35A would fall to under $100 million per aircraft in the 10th low-rate production lot.

Another factor in the cost of the airplane is the recent drop in value of the British pound following Brexit. Some 15 percent of the components for the F-35 are built by U.K. firms.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.jsf.mil