F-35A 1기당 가격은? 6천5백만불 vs. 1억1천1백만불

 

 

 

JSF cost has several estimates, none solid

NavyTimes

By Dave Majumdar - Staff writer

Posted : Sunday Sep 11, 2011

  

What is the true unit cost of the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter?

 

Although both the JSF program office and the Pentagon’s Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation have estimates of what a production F-35 will eventually cost, they cannot share those data because the two estimates have yet to be reconciled, a JSF program official said.

 

Moreover, because the Defense Department is looking at various total production numbers as the Pentagon develops its fiscal 2013 budget, those estimates could change.

 

And this is happening while the Pentagon weighs several possible program cuts that could emerge during budget deliberations.

 

The official also said that while they have estimates, there is no way to know the real cost of the aircraft until the program starts to build the jets.

 

One thing is clear: The price tag for a production model of the Air Force version, the F-35A, is not necessarily $65 million in 2010 dollars, as Lockheed Martin officials have repeatedly asserted.

 

“The average estimated unit recurring flyaway cost for the F-35A is about $65 million in 2011 dollars,” said Lockheed spokes-woman Laurie Quincy, reiterating the company’s claim in an email Aug. 31.

 

“This is in line with current fourth-generation fighter costs which do not include targeting pods, jammers, decoy systems, [electronic warfare] equipment, fuel tanks, infrared search and track, night vision devices, helmet and other systems,” she wrote.

 

However, according to a report by the Teal Group of Fairfax, Va., as of 2011, the Pentagon’s cost assessment office was estimating a unit cost of $92 million in 2002 dollars, which would amount to about $111 million in 2011 dollars.

 

An official at the JSF program office said Lockheed’s $65 million price tag claim is “disingenuous” because the figure does not include the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that powers the jet.

 

Further, he said that the program office has repeatedly asked the company to stop using the $65 million figure.

 

But an industry source denied the JSF official’s statement and said Lockheed’s $65 million figure does include the engine but is averaged over a projected U.S. buy of 3,163 aircraft.

 

The engine costs roughly $11 million once in full-rate production, Teal Group analyst William Storey said.

 

“The goal is to get unit prices down to around $10 million, so $11 million seems reasonable for the long run,” he said.

 

In the fiscal 2011 budget, the engine cost is $13 million.

 

Pratt & Whitney spokeswoman Stephanie Duvall declined to confirm the price of the engine, saying that the data are “confidential information shared between [Pratt & Whitney] and our customers.”

 

 

  ⓒ USAF

 

  ⓒ Lockheed Martin

 

  ⓒ Lockheed Martin