Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) delivered the 91 ° aircraft of the year, respecting the delivery targets for the 2018 shared by the US government and the industry and demonstrating that the F-35 program is ripe for the full production phase regime.
The 91 aircraft delivered in 2018 represent a 40 percent increase in production since 2017 and around 100 percent compared to 2016. Lockheed Martin plans to deliver more than 2019 F-130s in 35, with a further increase in production of the 40 percent.
"Achieving this goal demonstrates that the F-35 program is mature to support production at full capacity and to cope with an increasing demand from customers worldwide," said Greg Ulmer, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's F-35 program. “On an annual basis we have increased production, lowered costs, reduced construction time and improved quality and on-time delivery. Today, the F-35 is the best performing fighter jet in the world and the aircraft's annual deliveries are higher than any other aircraft on the market at the same or lower price. "
The 91 airplane is an F-35B of the US Marine Corps, and will be delivered to the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, South Carolina. Deliveries made in the 2018 include 54 F-35 for the United States, 21 for international partners and 16 for Foreign Military Sales customers.
To date, more than 355 F-35s have been delivered and are currently in operation at 16 bases around the world. Over 730 pilots and 6.700 maintenance workers have qualified to operate the F-35s and the fleet has exceeded 175.000 cumulative flight hours. Ten nations currently have the F-35, seven of which have F-35s operating from a base within the national territory; four armed forces have declared Initial Operational Capability, while two have announced that they have used their F-35s in combat operations.
Switch to production at full capacity and operational maintenance
Thanks to the experience gained, process efficiency, production automation, plant and equipment improvement, supply chain initiatives and more, the F-35 program has significantly reduced costs and achieved greater efficiency .
The price of an F-35A is now $ 89,2 million and the program is in line with the goal of going down at a cost of $ 80 million for the F-35A within the 2020 (Lot 14), namely a price equal to or lower than that of an 4 th generation aircraft with lower performance.
The operational readiness and maintenance costs of the F-35 are also improving. The cost of maintenance for Lockheed Martin's annual aircraft fell for three consecutive years and decreased by about 15 percent from the 2015. The joint government-industry team has taken aggressive action to achieve an 80 per cent operational readiness rate and reduce 40 per-hour flight time costs.
Thanks to stealth technology, advanced sensors and weapon capacity, the F-35 is the most advanced and interconnected fighter, capable of guaranteeing the highest survival rate in the world. More than just a fighter, the F-35's capabilities to collect, analyze and share data make it a powerful force multiplier capable of enhancing all assets, both air and ground involved in the field, allowing men and women in uniform to fulfill their missions and return. During joint combat exercises the F-35 proved to be more than 20 times more effective than 4 generation.
