Naval Air Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies more than $1 billion worth of F-35 contracts the week of Aug. 21, supporting long-lead work on partner and Foreign Military Sales aircraft, engines, and F-35 helmets.
The largest in the group was a $606.8 million undefinitized contract for long-lead parts for foreign-user F-35s. The August 22 contract specified that these aircraft are in Lot 19 and that it covers 173 aircraft, but Lockheed has said its maximum production on F-35s for the next few years will be 156 per year. The Joint Program Office could not be reached to explain the discrepancy.
The contract is to be completed by January 2028. Long-lead parts tend to be castings, forgings and other parts that can take a year or more to produce, or require production of specialized materials.
Lockheed Martin and the JPO have been in negotiations on production Lot 18 and 19 contracts since last year. Lot 20 will likely be negotiated separately, as it could be the first to count as a “multiyear” procurement, under congressional rules. Separately, Pratt & Whitney has been negotiating on engines for those lots. The engines are then provided to Lockheed as government-furnished equipment.
Of the overall $606.8 million in the contract, $329.5 million covers FMS work, while the partner program work is worth $277.3 million, all to be expended at the time the work is done.
Lockheed got another $347.4 million contract on Aug. 21 which “adds scope” to a previous indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity contract for F-35 helmet-mounted display systems applicable to Lot 15-16 aircraft among all F-35 users. The helmet-mounted display works with the F-35’s distributed aperture system to provide a 365-degree field of view and tactical presentation of the situation around the aircraft, in visible or no-light conditions. The contract did not specify how many helmets are involved, but each is tailored to an individual pilot. The contract is to be completed in December 2026.
Pratt & Whitney, a division of RTX, received a $59.3 million fixed-price incentive fee modification to a Lot 16 contract for F135 engine long-lead items, which will support production for Lot 18 F135 engines. The parts will be for all F-35 fighter users, and the work is to be completed by the end of 2025.
Naval Air Systems Command awards all F-35 contracts because oversight of the program currently rests with the Navy’s service acquisition executive. Under a joint integration model set at the outset of the Joint Strike Fighter program, when the program executive officer is an Air Force officer—as it is now—the Navy’s SAE supervises the program and the PEO’s deputy is also a Naval officer. When program directorship is held by a Navy or Marine officer, the Air Force SAE supervises the program, the Air Force awards the contracts, and the PEO’s deputy is an Air Force officer. The JPO director is Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, and he reports to the Navy SAE, Frederick J. Stefany.
The Joint Program Office is expected to turn over many of its logistical and developmental responsibilities to the individual military services in the next few years.