[ad_1]
With the proposed purchase of Boeing F-15 by the service, the company is increasing its sales efforts on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.
Lockheed Martin is increasingly frustrated by the fact that the WE. The Air Force will not increase the amount of its planned purchases of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and suggests that growth might rather come from increased interest in Eastern Europe and l & # 39; Asia.
"The frustrating piece for us is the WE. Air Force, Lockheed CFO Ken Possenriede said Tuesday during a discussion of the first quarter results with Wall Street analysts. "We will continue to work with our clients and with government officials on the way forward."
In its budget proposal for 2020, Air Force officials announced their intention to purchase 48 F-35 jet aircraft annually by 2024. The budget also provides for the funding of eight new F aircraft. -35.15EX fighters, the first of a planned number of 80 over the next five years.
Overall, the Department of Defense's F-35 request is "strong," said Lockheed President Marillyn Hewson. CEO, on the call. The Pentagon leaders have been "very clear about the fact that they will stay on their entire supply plan for this plane."
"They have no intention of moving away from that," Hewson said. "We see that going forward. How [Pentagon leaders] managing what they buy from year to year is always a challenge as they look at what their overall needs are compared to the budgets they have to work with. "
Chief of the Air Staff, David Goldfein, said he wanted to buy 72 new fighters each year in order to increase the average age of aircrafts. jet aircraft of its fleet of 28 to 15 years.
"If we had money, we would have 72 F-35s," Goldfein said. Defense News in January. "But we have to look at this from a cost / business analysis. An F-15 will never be an F-35. Never. But I need some capacity.
The Air Force, Navy and Navy Corps have asked Congress to obtain 78 F-35s during the 2020 exercise. A bipartisan group of 103 lawmakers, belonging to the Joint Strike Fighter Caucus, urges Authorizers and landlords to add 24 additional jets. from among them for the air force.
Legislators have regularly added F-35s to the Pentagon budget. Last year, Congress added 16 projects out of 77 requested by the Pentagon.
Just days after the Pentagon sent Congress its budget request, Lockheed began broadcasting a three-page white paper on Capitol Hill detailing "the decisive advantage of the F-35s" over fourth-generation fighter jets. such as the F-15s.
"We will continue to drive down the price of the plane," said Possenriede, of Lockheed.
Quoting the figures from the white paper, Possenriede said that every F-35 Air Force purchased during fiscal year 2020 would cost "less than $ 80 million," while cost per hour of flight will be brought down to $ 25,000 by 2025.
This week, Bloomberg announced that a full series of upgrades to the F-35 fleet would increase the F-35's total acquisition cost by $ 22 billion.
Lockheed should build more than 130 F-35s for the WE. and allies this year. Hewson said Lockheed's factories can be configured to produce 180 F-35s a year.
Despite questions surrounding Turkey's planned purchase of F-35 jet aircraft, international demand for this jet is increasing. Singapore, Greece, Romania, Spain and Poland have all shown interest in the F-35, Vice Admiral Mat Winter, the F-35 Program Manager, told Parliament earlier this month.
Hewson also mentioned Japan's plans to increase its total F-35 purchases.
"We continue to see more and more opportunities for the F-35," she said. "International demand is strong."
[ad_2]
Source link