Now Pitching Advanced Fighter To Canada, Other Countries

Lockheed Martin faces a dilemma with the development of its Joint Strike Fighter. Some which have committed to sharing development costs have not committed to actually buy finished aircraft.

Estimates of the final per-plane price tag for the JSF are all over the place -- ranging from a Norwegian press report of about $59 million US, to Australian government estimates of $70 million when it receives its planes in 2013. Lockheed has said before the price is tied to the number of JSFs ultimately ordered -- more orders mean lower prices on a per-plane basis.

That approach hasn't settled well with countries that may want to order the JSF, but don't want to risk paying high prices. If the uncertainty over the final price is feeding the unwillingness to commit, Lockheed Martin may be about to work past it by trying something new.

The Canwest news Service reports Lockheed Martin may be preparing to offer a guaranteed price, but only for nations which commit to purchase before a deadline. 

Tom Burbage, Lockheed's general manager for JSF program integration, tells Canwest the company hopes to get commitments to a five-year production run, for a guaranteed price of about $50 million per plane -- a relative bargain.

"We're certainly hoping that the pricing we get back from our suppliers will either ratify or improve that number," Burbage said.

Canada needs a new fighter to allow retiring its CF-18s -- variants on the earliest McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 fighters, introduced in 1983 -- starting in 2017. Ottawa already has $150 million invested in JSF production so far, and has committed to another $500 million over 45 years for production tooling.

A decision on whether to actually buy the Joint Strike Fighter or one of its competitors isn't expected until 2013, but some industry observers are already calling that decision a formality. 

Martin Shadwick, a strategic studies professor at York University, observes, "Politically and industrially we've thrown our lot in with the JSF. It would be difficult to go elsewhere now. The question is how many, when and what model."

FMI: www.jsf.mil