USAF F-35 Fighter Jet Price Drops Below $90 Million Apiece for the First Time

The United States Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin have finalized an $11.5 billion contract for the production and delivery of 141 F-35 aircraft at the lowest per aircraft price in program history.

For the eleventh consecutive year, the cost of an F-35A was lowered.  The F-35A unit price including aircraft, engine and fee, is $89.2 million. This represents a 5.4 percent reduction from the $94.3 million it cost for an F-35A in Low-Rate Initial Production Lot 10 (LRIP 10), Lockheed Martin said in a statement Friday.

In LRIP 11, the F-35B unit cost was lowered to $115.5 million.  This represents a 5.7 percent reduction from the $122.4 million it cost for the short-takeoff and landing variant in LRIP 10. The F-35C unit cost was lowered to $107.7 million. This represents an 11.1 percent reduction from the $121.2 million it cost for the carrier variant in LRIP 10. The LRIP 11 agreement funds 91 aircraft for the US Services, 28 for F-35 International Partners and 22 for F-35 Foreign Military Sales customers. Deliveries will begin in 2019.

"As production ramps up, and we implement additional cost savings initiatives, we are on track to reduce the cost of the F-35A to $80 million by 2020, which is equal to or less than legacy aircraft," said Greg Ulmer, F-35 Vice President and General Manager.