Lockheed Team Wins Presidential Chopper

[drowe]

Friday, January 28, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Pentagon contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT) will build the new presidential helicopter fleet, members of Congress said Friday, putting an end to a fierce competition that had both political and international overtones.

The Navy was to make the official announcement later Friday. New York and Connecticut lawmakers confirmed the award.

The $1.6 billion contract to buy 23 high-tech, high-security aircraft, is comparatively small. But it is emblematic of two important issues: the outsourcing of American jobs and the question of how open the U.S. military market is to foreign contractors.

The decision was a victory for the major campaign waged by Maryland-based Lockheed and its European partners, with the help of political leaders from England and Italy.

It was a blow to Connecticut-based Sikorsky Aircraft, which has built the presidential fleet since 1957, and saw the contract as a point of pride.

"The US101 will provide the president of the United States with a state-of-the-art-helicopter ... an Oval Office in the sky," said Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

But Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. who was at the Sikorsky plant in Stratford, Conn., expressed disappointment.

"'Made in America' should mean something," she said. "The Defense Department has some explaining to do."

The entire helicopter will be assembled where I work in Amarillo, TX. Then it will be flown to Owego, NY (where the high tech avionics packages will be installed) and delivered to the Marines (HMX-1) from there.

The competition’s (Sikorsky H-92) aircraft actually had/has a lower American made content than the Lockheed-Martin/Bell Helicopter version (US101), only the design is foreign (British). The 101 will be made in America, so Rep. Rosa DeLauro needs to get her facts straight.

Honestly, I have enough to do at work, this just means more work for me and the same old pay.

 

[waltky]

The Donald haggles down the Lockheed F-35 price per jet...

Lockheed Credits Trump as Price Per Jet Falls in Latest F-35 Batch
February 3, 2017 - The Defense Department announced an $8.2 billion deal for the latest batch of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters on Friday, known as Low Rate Initial Production 10.

President Donald Trump on Monday said he has been negotiating with Lockheed Martin Corp. officials to bring the cost down significantly since he became president-elect. “I got involved in that about a month ago,” he said during a meeting with business leaders at the White House. “There was no movement, and I was able to get $600 million approximately off those planes.” In total, the latest contract represents a $728 million reduction from LRIP 9, Defense Department officials said. The deal for 90 new Joint Strike Fighters marks the first time the price per F-35A variant for the Air Force will fall below $100 million, according to the announcement, first reported by Reuters.

The unit price for the service was reduced seven percent from the last batch of aircraft, amounting to $95 million per plane, the announcement said. The Marine Corps’ F-35B and Navy’s F-35C variant price tags were reduced to $123 million and $122 million (roughly seven and eight percent, respectively) per aircraft in comparison to LRIP 9, announced in November, according to the Pentagon’s statistics. Lockheed spokesman Bill Phelps on Friday said, “President Trump’s personal involvement in the F-35 program accelerated the negotiations and sharpened our focus on driving down the price. “The agreement was reached in a matter of weeks and represents significant savings over previous contracts. This is a good deal for the American taxpayer, our country, our company and our suppliers,” he said.

A US Marine F-35 Lightning II taking off at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida​

Deliveries of 90 aircraft are set to begin in 2018, the DoD announcement said. “The LRIP-10 contract is a good and fair deal for the taxpayers, the U.S. Government, allies, and Industry,” said Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 program executive officer, in a statement. “We continue to work with Industry to drive costs out of the program.” The stealth jet’s cost had been widely debated even before Trump began voicing concerns about the program’s cost overruns. Trump tweeted on Dec. 22, “Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!”

Last week, Defense Secretary James Mattis ordered separate reviews of the F-35 and Air Force One programs with an eye toward reducing program costs. The review for the F-35, however, will solely focus on the Navy’s C model. “Now that we know [Trump meant] just the C [version] … that’s been reality for years now,” Richard Aboulafia, vice president and analyst at the Teal Group, told Military.com on Jan. 27. “The Navy hasn’t bought more than a tiny token … of Cs, and four times as many Super Hornets and Growlers. You do the math … It’s a single digit percentage of the total program at best,” Aboulafia said.

MORE

See also:

Lockheed trims costs for F-35, most expensive plane ever
February 3, 2017 | Washington - Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon on Friday said the next batch of F-35 stealth fighters, the most expensive planes in history, will be produced at a reduced cost. They announced $728 million in savings after President Donald Trump publically upbraided Lockheed over "out of control" costs, although most of the savings were already planned ahead of his involvement, during a months-long contract negotiation.

The next production run of 90 F-35s will see the Air Force version of the plane, the F-35A, produced at a unit cost of $94.6 million, marking a 7.3 percent reduction from an earlier batch and pushing the price per plane below $100 million for the first time. "President Trump's personal involvement in the F-35 program accelerated the negotiations and sharpened our focus on driving down the price," Lockheed said in a statement. "The agreement was reached in a matter of weeks and represents significant savings over previous contracts."


With a current development and acquisition price tag already at $379 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft -- most destined for the Air Force -- the F-35 is the most expensive plane in history, and costs are set to go higher still. Once servicing and maintenance costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft's lifespan through 2070, overall program costs are expected to rise to $1.5 trillion.

Pentagon F-35 program head Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan said the agreement was a "good and fair deal for the taxpayers, the US government, allies and industry." The F-35 is also produced in versions for the Marine Corps and Navy. The Marine model, the F-35B, will now be produced at a unit cost of $122.8 million, a 6.7 percent reduction.

The Navy's F-35C will cost $121.8 million, down 7.9 percent. Lockheed also said the deal would create 1,800 new jobs at its factory in Fort Worth, Texas. Production costs often trend downward on large military orders as economies of scale and other factors kick in. Proponents tout the F-35's radar-dodging stealth technology, supersonic speeds, close air-support capabilities, airborne agility and a massive array of sensors giving pilots unparalleled access to information. But the program has faced numerous setbacks, including a mysterious engine fire in 2014 that led commanders to ground planes until the problem could be resolved.


Lockheed trims costs for F-35, most expensive plane ever

 

[HenryBHough]

From the thread title I thought a bunch of Lockheed workers had won an Obama lottery - a little "going away" fund raiser......