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U.S. Defense Department awarded $535 million contract for F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter 1008111.
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World
Air Force News - United States |
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| U.S. Defense Department awarded $535 million contract for F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter | |||
The
U.S. Defense Department awarded a $535 million contract to Lockheed Martin
on Aug. 8 via the U.S. Navy to build long-lead components for 38 Low Rate
Initial Production (LRIP) Lot VI F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters
(JSF). |
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 The F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing variant test program achieved its 100th vertical landing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., on May 12, 2011 (Source Lockheed Martin) |
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According to a Pentagon release, the batch of 38 planes includes four F-35A model conventional take-off aircraft for Italy and another two F-35A aircraft for Australia. If the Australian and Italian aircraft are included in the final LRIP VI contract, which will be awarded next year, these would be the first aircraft ordered by those nations. Currently, the JSF program office is negotiating with manufacturer Lockheed Martin to hammer out the LRIP5 contract. Work will be performed in
Fort Worth, Texas (35 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (25 percent); Warton,
United Kingdom (20 percent); Orlando, Fla. (10 percent); Nashua, N.H.
(5 percent); and Baltimore, Md. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed
in December 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current
fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. |
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