Washington, United States - Lockheed Martin announced:
The company has stopped accepting flights and deliveries of new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters during an investigation into the cause of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter accident that occurred on a Texas runway on December 15, 2022. The production suspension means Lockheed Martin will deliver fewer F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in 2022 than the 148 required by the contract. Before the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter incident on December 15, 2022, Lockheed spokesperson Laura Siebert told Defense News, "We are on track to meet our delivery commitments." “However, given the pause in deliveries, we delivered 141 aircraft last year”.
The U.S. Pentagon and Lockheed Martin also announced on Friday that they had finalized a contract worth up to $30 billion to deliver up to 398 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to U.S. and international customers in the program's next three tranches, from Lot 15 to Lot 17. However, the contract only guarantees Lots 15 and 16, as well as the option for Lot 17. Lockheed said in a press release that the contract will also include the first batch of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for Belgium, Finland and Poland. Lockheed spokesperson Laura Siebert said that Lockheed stopped accepting flights "out of an abundance of caution" after the accident of on December 15, 2022. And since these flights must precede the delivery of newly built F-35 fighter jets, it also has the effect of halting deliveries. Since then, Lockheed Martin has continued to build new F-35 fighter jets at Air Force Plant 4 in Fort Worth, Texas, which is the main facility for building fifth-generation fighter aircraft . But in the second half of December, those newly completed F-35s remained on the ground.
Siebert said that nine new F-35 fighter jets are awaiting acceptance flights and delivery. The video of the December 15, 2022 accident that went viral on social media showed that the F-35B fighter jet hovered not far from the ground before descending, bouncing once and tilting forward. Its nose and wings touch the ground and it begins to spin. The pilot ejected safely. This is a newly built F-35B fighter jet that has not yet been handed over to the US government.
The pilot was in the Air Force and was performing quality inspections for the Defense Contract Administration. The accident remains under investigation by Naval Air Systems Command, with support from the F-35 Joint Program Office. But earlier this week, the Japan Intellectual Property Office issued guidance on the incident for a small number of new F-35 fighter jets it considers to be at higher risk. In a statement to Defense News, the JPO said it "has issued a Time Compliance Technical Directive (TCTD) to restrict the continuation of flight operations for some aircraft assessed to be higher risk during the investigation of the Dec. 15 accident until procedures are developed to return them to flight." The JPO would not say how many fighter jets were grounded.
A source familiar with the program told Defense News that an investigation into the December 15 accident found that a tube that carries high-pressure fuel in the engine of the Pratt & Whitney F135 fighter jet failed. The discovery prompted the JPO to update its safety risk assessment, which affects jets with less than 40 hours of flight time. “The F-35 provides our warfighters and combatant commanders with unparalleled capabilities,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, F-35 program executive officer, in a Lockheed press release. "This contract strikes the right balance of what's best for U.S. taxpayers, our military, our allies and our foreign military sales customers." Lockheed said it has delivered 894 F-35s worldwide to date, including 141 this year. Other countries set to receive fighter jets as part of the latest contract include Australia, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom.
"Continuing to add new countries to our global F-35 fleet further validates the aircraft's capabilities and affordability in providing 21st century security to the nation and allies," said Bridget Lauderdale, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin F-35 program. "There is simply no other aircraft like the F-35. That defeats and deters the most advanced threats."
Lockheed said the average price of a F-35A fighter aircraft - that is, everything in the fighter except the engine - will increase 6.5 percent between Lot 14 and Lot 17. The company added that it was able to keep cost growth below the rate of inflation. Lockheed said the F-35A fighter jets cost $65.6 million per aircraft in Lot 14. The cost will increase to $70.2 million at Lot 15, then drop to $69.3 million at Lot 16, then rise again to $69.9 million at Lot 17. Siebert said that the government's contract with Pratt & Whitney, the manufacturer of the F135 fighter jet's engine, has not yet been finalized, so the total price of the F-35 fighter jet, including the engine, cannot yet be calculated. This is a change from previous contracts, which saw the cost of F-35 fighter jets decline over the years. The Pentagon said that the average price of each F-35 fighter jet in 2019 will drop from Lot 11 to Lot 14, a decrease of approximately 12.8%.
Schmidt touted the enhanced capabilities the next batch of F-35s will receive at launch, "Schmitt said the F-35 is the world's premier multi-mission fifth-generation weapons system, and the modern Block 4 capabilities these new aircraft will bring not only enhance capabilities, but also enhance interoperability and cyber domains with our allies and partners on land, sea, air and in the air," Schmidt said. Lockheed said it expects to deliver 147 to 153 fighter jets each year over the next two years, although that could change due to a delivery pause in late 2022.
