The F-35 Program Office has signed a new contract with Lockheed Martin for servicing fifth-generation F-35 Lighting II fighter-bombers. Under the terms of the agreement, the cost of flights of aircraft in service with the US Armed Forces will be reduced by the fiscal year 2023. This is reported by the FlightGlobal portal.
The contract obliges to reduce the cost of an F-35A flight hour to 30 thousand dollars, which is 10.7 percent less than the operating costs due to the previous agreement. The cost reduction is part of the aircraft maintenance agreement concluded in 2021.
Flight Global emphasizes that the new contract brings Lockheed Martin closer to realizing its intention to reduce the cost of an F-35A flight hour to 25 thousand dollars in 2025. In 2020, this amount was 33.6 thousand dollars.
Representatives of Lockheed Martin say that the coefficient of performance of combat missions by F-35 aircraft around the world has increased to 70 percent, and the cost of flight hours has decreased by 44 percent over the past five years.
Earlier, US lawmakers supported an amendment to the bill on defense policy, which tied the number of aircraft purchased to the cost of their maintenance. Thus, operators will be able to purchase the planned number of F-35s only after reaching the service cost targets.
In the summer, The Drive edition reported on the degradation of the F-35 engines. Wear of the protective coating of the rotor blades of the F135 engines was found in 46 fighters.
Daniil Irinin
