The cost of making the US military’s futuristic F-35 fighter jet — already the most expensive weapons project in history — is on the decline, the officer in charge of the program said Wednesday.
“Production costs continue to come down,” US Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan told a news briefing. “When it comes to the price of the airplane and the price of the engine, it continues to come down lot after lot.”
The plane, including a version that can take off and land vertically, is supposed to form the backbone of the military’s future fighter fleet, ensuring US dominance in the skies with radar-evading technology.
The military has already taken delivery of dozens of the planes, but new batches continue to be refined and tested, with more than a few bumps in the road.
In the latest blow to the program, engineers uncovered a slew of flaws during extensive testing of the newest versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a Pentagon report out last week found, adding to a litany of issues including software bugs, technical glitches and cost overruns.
Still, starting in 2018, the F-35 A may reach a price tag for US military and foreign clients of about $80-85 million, Bogdan said.
The Pentagon just inked a deal with enginemaker Pratt and Whitney that could reduce costs on the order by two to three percent, he added.
And it is working on an agreement with Lockheed Martin aimed at further reducing production costs down the line, Bogdan said.
He acknowledged some delays were expected but that “most of the work for the SDD (system development and demonstration) is going to be done by the start of 2018.”
The Pentagon has budgeted nearly $400 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft.
Nine international partners including Britain, Canada and Turkey are helping pay for the jet’s development and are buying hundreds more of the planes.
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