Lockheed Martin agreed to the deferral of a $614 million award fee on the F-35 program, announced Monday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates as part of the Fiscal 2011 budget rollout. Dan Crowley, F-35 program manager for Lockheed Martin, said Tuesday it’s fair for the government to insist on performance and added that DOD is “going toward incentive-based fees” on all contracts. If the company can keep F-35 costs down and hit its marks in flight test and production, it could get the money, Crowley said. He also noted that since the government will take a conservative approach in estimating F-35 costs, if actual costs come in lower, the services could “buy to budget” and actually buy more airplanes with the same money. One thing is for sure, though: No money is going to be added to accommodate higher costs, Crowley said.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited the site of U.S. Space Command’s future home Dec. 12 and endorsed the move to establish the headquarters in Alabama after years of political back and forth.
