The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin should reach agreement “in the summer timeframe” on a price for Lot 8 low-rate initial production of F-35 strike fighters, said Lorraine Martin, the company’s F-35 program manager, on Monday. She also suggested the deal could be announced as soon as the Farnborough Air Show, which takes place July 14-20 outside of London. At the company’s June 9 media day in Arlington, Va., Martin said “we do expect each LRIP lot will cost less” than the one before it. Lots 6 and 7, which the parties negotiated last year, established prices four percent lower, respectively, than the preceding lots. Asked about prospects for a Farnborough announcement, Martin said, “I like to get things behind me … as quickly as possible.”
Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Davis, the Department of the Air Force’s top internal watchdog, has been nominated to lead Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.