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Report: Pentagon Using New Pricing Data In Lockheed F-35 Talks

Lockheed’s F-35 / DoD Image

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) and the Defense Department are getting closer to a new agreement for 32 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said, Defense News reports.

Frank Kendall, undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said the Pentagon is using new pricing data to estimate acquisition costs, according to Marcus Weisgerber’s report.

The Pentagon has developed a price scale model, also known as a should-cost estimate, based on the military’s previous four purchases of F-35 jets.

Kendall told reporters the Pentagon is using the should-cost scale to compare costs with Lockheed’s new F-35 bid item-by-item and line-by-line, Weisgerber reports.

That new data is contributing to a delay in negotiations between the company and the government, according to the report.

Navy Vice Adm. David Vinlet, F-35 program manager, told a Senate Armed Services panel in May that future tests will focus on software development and assembly.

Those tests will occur before Lockheed receives a planned contract for six jets.

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