Lockheed Would Accept More Cost Risk on F-35 Fighter

Lockheed Martin Corp. said it would assume more risk for any cost increases on the next trial lot of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, the most-expensive U.S. weapons program ever.

Negotiations with the U.S. Defense Department are “weeks away” from completion on the next batch of 32 F-35s, Chief Executive Officer Robert Stevens said today. The new contract would be for a fixed price plus incentives and would come two years earlier than planned, Stevens said.

“We are doing that because of the confidence we have in the program,” he told reporters at a briefing in Arlington, Virginia.

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