Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) is an aerospace and security company which operates globally and engages in R&D, Design, manufacturing of technology. Principal customers of the company are agencies of the US Government. F35’s first hit the sky in 2006 and since then many variants have come. Lockheed Martin is currently working on fifth generation F35 and targeting a cost reduction. CNBC’s Jane Wells reports regarding the aerospace giant’s announcement and the risk that they are carrying with them.
Wells said that everyone is waiting to see if Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) will debut their F35 at the Farnborough Air show in England. The engine fire issue has forced Pentagon to ground the F35 Fleet. Amidst all these issues, the company has announced an agreement with Pentagon to reduce the F35 firth generation cost to the price of fourth generation by end of the decade.
She said that Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) along with Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and their major sub-contractors BAE Systems is planning to invest $170 million to investigate affordability measure over the span of next 2 years. The hope is that if initial investigation shows some success then US Government might pitch in with some investment to continue the investigation. F35 will be unrivalled in the fighter jet sector both in cost and capability point of view by 2019 if everything goes according to the plan.
“We expect that the F-35 with its unprecedented fifth generation capability will be nearly equal in cost to any other fighter on the market but with far more advanced capability” Wells quoted from Lockheed Martin’s announcement.
Wells said that Phil Lebeau will be available at Farnborough during the air show and interview CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) during the debut of F35. But if the currently prevailing engine fire issues prevent the F35 debut from happening, then she feels that it will be big embarrassment to the company.
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