Japan Is Added into F-35 Joint Strike Program
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $23,018,589 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. This contract provides for the integration of Japan as a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) country into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and provides country-specific program support for F-35 aircraft production, modifications, logistics, and sustainment efforts. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (58%); Nagoya, Japan (26%); Orlando, Florida (11%); Redondo Beach, California (3%); and Samlesbury, United Kingdom (2%), and is expected to be completed in March 2025. FMS customer funds in the amount of $23,018,589 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(C)(4). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0001921C0037).
According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, last summer the U.S. State Department gave the go-ahead for the possible FMS to the Government of Japan for one hundred and five F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $23.11 billion. The Government of Japan has requested to buy sixty-three F-35A Conventional TakeOff and Landing aircraft, forty-two F-35B Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing aircraft, and one hundred ten Pratt and Whitney F135 engines, including five spares. Also included are Electronic Warfare Systems; Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence/Communications, Navigation and Identification; Autonomic Logistics Global Support System, Autonomic Logistics Information System; Flight Mission Trainer; Weapons Employment Capability, and other Subsystems, Features, and Capabilities; F-35 unique infrared flares; reprogramming center access and F-35 Performance Based Logistics; software development/integration; flight test instrumentation; aircraft ferry and tanker support; spare and repair parts; support equipment, tools and test equipment; technical data and publications; personnel training and training equipment; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics support.
The State Department said that the sale of the F-35 aircraft to Japan supports the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States since it improves the security of a key ally "that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Asia-Pacific region."
