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F-35 Aircraft

Answer

The Department does not release detailed breakdowns of F-35 expenditure or future cost estimates as to do so could undermine its commercial position. However, within previous US Department of Defense (DoD) annual Selected Acquisition Reports (SAR) for the Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft the F-35B variant has previously been estimated as costing: $174 million for aircraft bought within Low Rate Initial Production lot three (LRIP 3), where the UK purchased two aircraft; $163 million for aircraft purchased within LRIP 4, where the UK purchased one aircraft; and $151 million for aircraft purchased in LRIP 7, where the UK purchased one aircraft. These are not the final settlement values as release of this information could undermine future contract negotiations.

Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney have a track record for delivering the airframe and engine below US government SAR estimates with the F-35 unit cost continuing to reduce in line with the aircraft manufacture's predicted cost reduction profile. It should be noted that three of the UK's first four aircraft are instrumented test and evaluation aircraft, which are typically more expensive than operational aircraft.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

HL5167

Session

2014-15

Subjects

Procurement Prices F-35 aircraft

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk