The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] a $1 billion modification on Sept. 24 for a previous advance acquisition contract, exercising options to produce and deliver 16 Lot 15 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
This purchase includes 10 aircraft for the Air Force and six for the Marine Corps. The Air Force variant is the F-35A while the Marine Corps uses the F-35B variant.
Work will be largely split between Fort Worth, Texas (57 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (14 percent); and Warton, United Kingdom (nine percent) and is expected to be finished by May 2026.
$440 million in fiscal year 2021 Navy aircraft procurement funds and $660 million in fiscal year 2021 Air Force aircraft procurement funds were obligated at the time of award.
Separately, Raytheon Technologies’ Pratt and Whitney [RTX] was awarded a $259 million contract procuring non-recurring sustainment support, material and support equipment for depot maintenance facilities, supplies and planning for depot activations in support of F-35 aircraft sustainment efforts for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) participants, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers.
Most of the work will occur in East Hartford, Conn.(30.5 percent); Oklahoma City, Okla. (22.2 percent); Cherry Point, N.C. (13.5 percent); and Jacksonville, Fla. (7.3 percent) and is expected to be finished in September 2024.
The support contract was not competitively procured pursuant to U.S. Code regulations.