Aircraft
F-35 Unit Cost To Go Below $100 Million, Maker Says
Talks to conclude new production contracts are still not done, but movement on price is going in the right direction.
Two F-35As from a test squadron based at Eglin AFB fly in formation. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
Two F-35As from a test squadron based at Eglin AFB fly in formation. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

Negotiations to finalize the contract for the next 160 F-35 Lightning II airframes are still not concluded, although a deal concluding the supply of their F135 engines was announced by the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) today. However, Lockheed Martin (LM) F-35 program general manager Jeff Babione told reporters attending a briefing at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) in the UK that the unit recurring flyaway cost (URFC) of the F-35A version is now heading below $100 million.