Lockheed Martin wins JSF competition
|
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, October 30, 2001
WASHINGTON Ñ Lockheed Martin has won what could be a $200 billion
project to produce the Joint Strike Fighter for the U.S. military.
Pentagon officials said Lockheed Martin easily beat Boeing for the JSF
project. They said Lockheed Martin's demonstrator aircraft and design
achieved superiority Boeing in a range of areas.
The U.S. military plans to procure more than 3,000 aircraft for all
services of the military. Three versions of the JSF are planned and the
conventional takeoff and landing variant, designed for the U.S. Air Force,
will be undergo the greatest production.
"The value of the program, depending on the degree of international
cooperation and participation, will be Ñ could be in excess of $200
billion," Assistant Defense Secretary Edward Aldridge said.
Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin exceeded Pentagon requirements for the
JSF, officials said. They said, however, that Lockheed Martin's demonstrator
was cheaper and more effective.
"Lockheed just had strengths in certain areas that outweighed fewer
weaknesses, and when we looked at risk, the Lockheed Martin team was the
better value," Secretary of the Air Force James Roche said. "It became
clear, as we went through this process, that the case built more and more
strongly that the Lockheed Martin team was a clear winner from the point of
view of best value for the government."
The Pentagon contract awarded to Lockheed Martin is for nearly $19
billion. The contract is for what officials termed the System Development
and Demonstration phase, meant to prove out the validity and design and
capability of the aircraft prior to entering full production. This will
result in the production of 22 aircraft.
Israel, Turkey and Arab allies of the United States are monitoring the
JSF program. Many of them have F-16 fleets that they hope to eventually
modernize with the JSF.
|