Lockheed Martin received a $40. 2 million contract to procure the long-lead-time parts, materials, and components for Japan’s first four F-35 strike fighters, according to the Pentagon’s list of major contracts for March 25. Japan is procuring some 42 F-35As—the Air Force conventional-takeoff variant—under a foreign military sale with the United States that the Pentagon formally announced in April 2012. Under the contract’s terms, Lockheed Martin is scheduled to complete the long-lead work in February 2014, states the contract description. The company will build Japan’s first four F-35As as part of the F-35’s eighth low-rate production lot. (See also Japan Selects F-35.)
The Air Force is shoring up its cyber defenses both on and off base for critical infrastructure such as water and electrical power, and industry experts are calling for more, even specialized, dedicated microgrids offsite to support USAF operations in case of a total blackout caused by cyberattacks.
