Lockheed Martin officials have been sweating bullets over the last few weeks, as lawmakers bandied talk of wide-ranging budget cuts to fund the huge hurricane relief effort. Talk naturally turned to defense programs, including the company’s venerated Joint Strike Fighter program. But F-35 Program Vice President Tom Burbage tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that despite the probable reduction in the number of aircraft the US military may purchase, the cost of the fighter will remain steady. Burbage doesn’t think cuts this early in the program would affect production rates. “We think the front end will remain pretty stable,” he said.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.