Lockheed Dismisses $1 Trillion Estimate For F-35 JSF -- Aol Defense
FIGHTER DEMONSTRATION CENTER, ARLINGTON, VA: Lockheed Martin executives gathered to tout their F-35 Joint Strike Fighter dismissed a widely reported Pentagon estimate that the aircraft would ultimately cost $1.1 trillion to develop, build, and operate over 55 years. In fact, they argued, the F-35 will cost less to operate than the airplanes it will replace -- a highly controversial claim.
"Lockheed Martin believes this aircraft is going to be about the same or even less to operate over the life of the program," said Robert Rubino, a former Navy pilot who now heads the Navy portion of the Lockheed F-35 program. In the DoD estimate, he said, "they were using legacy data, legacy models" that don't account for how the F-35 was designed with ease of maintenance and affordability in mind: "They don't give credit for any of those enhancements."
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My Comment: Lockheed Martin is clearly concerned about criticisms of the F-35 program .... and are jumping into the discussion with their own point of view. The problem for Lockheed is that the F-35 is late, costs have risen, and partner nations are either cutting their order or cancelling outright. And this does not even go into an analysis on the technical and performance shortcomings of the jet .... and on how it may impact it's mission parameters.