The price of F135 engines, which power the F-35 fighter, will drop again in the ninth and 10th production lots. The F-35 System Program Office announced on Jan. 15 a “handshake deal” with Pratt & Whitney for the work, which will produce 52 conventional/carrier takeoff motors in Lot 9 and 87 in Lot 10 at 3.4 percent less than the Lot 8 negotiated price. For the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing version, the 13 Lot 9 and 14 Lot 10 motors and associated lift systems went down 6.4 percent from the Lot 8 price. Both deals include program management, engineering support, production non-recurring work, spare parts, and modules. The agreement “continues to drive down costs, and that’s critical to making the F-35 more affordable for the US military and our allies,” SPO Director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said in a statement. To date, Pratt has delivered 262 F135 engines. Lot 9 deliveries begin this year and Lot 10 in 2017. The agreement will be signed at a later date.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
