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| F-35 Lightning II. Photo: Lockheed Martin |
[Avionics Today 07-11-2016] The Department of Defense (DoD) has released two initiatives alongside industry to reduce F-35 Lightning II production and sustainment costs. The first is a two-year extension of the “Blueprint for Affordability for Production” program announced in 2014, with a goal of achieving a target price of $85 million for the air vehicle by 2019. The second is the creation of a similar concept to reduce the operation and sustainment costs of the F-35 weapon system, in which Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and BAE systems are investing up to $250 million targeting fiscal year 2018-2020 to reduce sustainment costs by 10 percent. The initiative projects at least a $1 billion savings for the five-year period.