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Trump touts $600 million in F-35 savings, an amount similar to a cut that was already planned

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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President Donald Trump touted a $600-million cost reduction for the F-35 fighter jet program in remarks Monday. But that amount appears to be similar to a previously planned price slash by the Department of Defense.

Trump took credit for the reduction, telling reporters that the cut applies to 90 planes.

“I was able to get $600 million approximately off those planes,” he said. “I think that was a great achievement. So I appreciate Lockheed Martin for being so responsive.”

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is produced in batches, and the price per plane is expected to decrease with each lot. The next batch, known in military jargon as low-rate initial production 10, is expected to contain 90 planes. Negotiations are still ongoing to determine pricing for these planes.

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Defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. is the plane’s builder.

In December, Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, program executive officer for the F-35 joint program office, said the price per plane in this upcoming batch could decrease 6% to 7%.

The F-35 comes in three variants to suit the needs of the Air Force, Marines and the Navy, with separate prices for each. In the previous batch of planes, the most common F-35A variant was priced at $102.1 million per jet, with the F-35B at $131.6 million per jet, and the F-35C at $132.2 million per jet.

With this in mind, Bogdan’s expectation of a 6% to 7% reduction per plane would put the total cut for all 90 planes — which includes all three variants — between about $576 million and $672 million.

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Lockheed Martin said in a statement that the company appreciated Trump’s comments “on the positive progress we’ve made on the F-35 program.”

“We share his commitment to delivering this critical capability for our men and women in uniform at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers,” the firm said.

When asked whether the $600 million cut mentioned by Trump was in addition to the already-planned cut, the company declined to comment on “ongoing discussions,” and referred that question to the F-35 joint program office.

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The joint program office, in turn, said “negotiations are ongoing and we expect to get a good deal for the taxpayers and for the warfighter.”

Last week, Defense Secretary James Mattis ordered a review of the F-35 program and its costs, and also asked for a parallel review of whether the capabilities of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet could compare with that of the F-35C.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

@smasunaga

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