The Defense Department and Lockheed Martin have reached a tentative agreement on the terms of the contract for the fifth production lot of F-35 strike fighters, according to the F-35 Joint Program Office. There will be a fixed-price type contract vehicle for this batch of aircraft—known as low-rate production lot 5—and a concurrency clause where DOD and Lockheed “will share responsibility on costs” for concurrency changes—modification costs associated with changes discovered during development, stated the JPO in a release. The Pentagon will use an undefinitized contract action to allow Lockheed its suppliers to begin production of the LRIP 5 airplanes and bill for incurred costs. The program office said DOD will announce the exact value of the LRIP 5 contract and the number of aircraft procured in this lot through its normal contract announcement process. During Lot 5, Lockheed is scheduled to start incorporating a redesigned structural component in the wings of the Air Force F-35A and Marine Corps F-35B variants.
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…