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US announces $8.5bn F35 order US to buy more F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin
(1 day later)
The US Department of Defense has announced a deal for 90 F-35 jets worth about $8.5bn for supplier Lockheed Martin. The US Department of Defense is to buy another tranche of F-35 fighter jets from maker Lockheed Martin at a lower price-per-plane than previous orders.
The agreement brings the price for each stealth fighter aircraft below $100m for the first time, the Pentagon said. In December, newly-elected US President Donald Trump said the cost of the Pentagon's most expensive defence programme was "out of control".
The Pentagon says it will save around $728m compared with its last order. The new order, 90 jets for $8.5bn, brings the price of each aircraft to about $95m, down from a previous $102m.
US President Donald Trump has been vocal in his criticism of the price of the F35 programme. Lockheed said Mr Trump had "sharpened our focus on driving down the price".
Mr Trump tweeted in December that the costs of the project were "out of control". The US government expects to spend close to $400bn in the coming decades to develop and buy 2,443 of the supersonic fighter jets.
However, defence analysts have said that a subsequent discount, which Donald Trump announced at the end of January, was in line with what had been flagged by Lockheed and Pentagon officials for months. Lockheed, the prime contractor, and its partners including Northrop Grumman, United Technologies Corp's Pratt & Whitney, and the UK's BAE Systems have been working on building a more cost-effective supply chain.
So, defence analysts had expected that orders would fall in price as production rises.
Lockheed Martin said on Friday: "President Trump's personal involvement in the F-35 program accelerated the negotiations and sharpened our focus on driving down the price."Lockheed Martin said on Friday: "President Trump's personal involvement in the F-35 program accelerated the negotiations and sharpened our focus on driving down the price."
The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons programme, costing about $400bn (£316bn). The UK government has committed to buying up to 138 F-35s, and has already taken delivery of at least three jets for RAF evaluation and testing.
But the price per jet has been steadily declining as production increases.
The US military will buy 55 of the jets, while 35 of the F35s will be sold abroad.
The UK is to buy three of the fighter planes.
Lockheed, the main contractor, and its partners including Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney and BAE Systems, have been working on building a more cost-effective supply chain to fuel the production line in Fort Worth in Texas.