F35 costs soar as Trump lobbies for a better deal.

www.bloomberg.com...

If everyone remembers the start of Trumps term, one of the issues he said he would tackle is the F35 program, and get a better deal for Americans. Now we're seeing what those negotiations look like. In the end it's an increase in costs of 7% to new record highs, and a slower procurement schedule which will cost more in the long term.

It seems this estimate is merely a current calculation too. All expectations are that there will be additional cost overruns.

a reply to: Aazadan

Weren't they already working on reducing costs before trump came into office?

Zaphod should know better.

And btw.

Winter said an estimated increase in the program’s total procurement cost to $346.2 billion from $319.1 billion last year was “largely driven” by the adjustments to the jet’s production schedule. The U.S. Air Force reduced its maximum annual rate of aircraft purchases to 60 per year from 80, a move which extended the planned procurements by six additional years from fiscal 2038 to fiscal 2044, he said. The Air Force is the largest single buyer of the fighter.

There's your increase. Of course the price went up.

a reply to: Aazadan

The profits will be fat for the manufactures of the jet.


The defense industry is full of cost over runs and absolutely blown schedules for delivery. Private industry at it's worst.

originally posted by: grey580
Weren't they already working on reducing costs before trump came into office?

They were. Trump basically took credit for something that had long been in the works without him.

It seems to have fallen through though because the costs of the program continue to go up. They are offsetting it with more sales, which will eventually get the cost per plane down... but that's a lot of planes.

man that is one rough article to read. not sure if anything about the current state has anything to do with trump atm since this sort of thing has been a trend with the f-35 program. hopefully they can get the costs down abit considering one of the main reasons to build this plane was to reduce costs but i have my doubts as orders for the plane keep getting reduced. its funny but not too long ago the reduced orders was a reason for them to say they had reduced the cost of the program.

LM uses a lot of the profit as campaign contributions in elections. Also, as private contractors unlike state run companies as in Russia, US defense companies can legally charge as much as they like, 1000 billion for a plane even.

a reply to: Aazadan

You buy fewer aircraft per year, costs go up. They're still buying them in LRIP lots, which also affects the program cost. They were supposed to be into the first block buy, with the second being determined by now, but they're still negotiating the first block. All of this affects program cost.

Individual airframe cost is continuing to drop with every buy. The cost per A model, if the block buy goes through as it appears to be going, will drop to the $80M range. That puts it cheaper than most 4th generation fighters.

a reply to: allsee4eye

You SERIOUSLY need to read more than just Russian websites. They can NOT "legally charge as much as they like,1000 billion for a plane even". They can charge as much as the contract allows for when it's initially awarded. All programs have overrun to some extent, depending on how much they're trying to do.

And you should read some honest assessments of those Russian programs. The T-50 program is way over budget, and each airframe is running a lot more than they originally planned on. They're so over budget they were in danger of being cancelled and have been delayed by years.

a reply to: Zaphod58

The cost per A model, if the block buy goes through as it appears to be going, will drop to the $80M range.

So costs are up 7% but the A model has dropped into the 80 million dollar range . How does that work .

a reply to: hutch622

PROGRAM costs are up. The total cost of overall procurement increased, but not the airframe cost. They'll pay an amount at the end of procurement that isn't for an aircraft, but covers the cost of long lead items, and whatever is left for R&D.

a reply to: hutch622

Alls good mate.






C'mon, lets all get with the program. Just ask the budgie smuggler mate!



Kind regards,

bally

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: Aazadan

The profits will be fat for the manufactures of the jet.


The defense industry is full of cost over runs and absolutely blown schedules for delivery. Private industry at it's worst.

We were warned but we didn't listen.

a reply to: hutch622

There's going to be a slight bump in cost for the next batch of aircraft. They're estimating the A will bump up to about $111M, up from about $101M for her last batch. They're also going to tack some of the $27.5B onto the life cycle cost, which includes support for the entire fleet, for a planned 60 years.

The companies who build these aircraft along with other work are constantly ripping off the American people. Check it out for yourself
www.contractormisconduct.org...

a reply to: Aazadan

a reply to: gimcrackery

Err ripping off the American people? What about us poor buggers.



bally

Edit Sorry it was wrong aircraft type. Try this one. Comes with budgie smugglers.



Just insert a coin mate, close yer eyes and Budgie will make your flying dreams come true until, "insert more coin !" Or "sorry, out of order !" That chinese man Sum Wan will pull the plug.

kind regards and sorry about the edit,

bally

a reply to: Aazadan

You seem to be blaming Trump, but I don't see why based on anything you posted.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: Aazadan

You seem to be blaming Trump, but I don't see why based on anything you posted.

I wasn't blaming him. It's just another campaign promise he failed to deliver on. He said he would renegotiate the program and make it more solvent financially. He didn't.

a reply to: Aazadan

You do realize that negotiations on this level don't happen overnight, right? The Pentagon forced a unilateral contract agreement for LRIP 9 after they negotiated for a year and a half. Trump had no control over the Air Force slowing their buy. They were talking about doing that last year, as well as reducing the overall number for the fleet.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Aazadan

You do realize that negotiations on this level don't happen overnight, right? The Pentagon forced a unilateral contract agreement for LRIP 9 after they negotiated for a year and a half. Trump had no control over the Air Force slowing their buy. They were talking about doing that last year, as well as reducing the overall number for the fleet.

I'm aware of that. Trump claimed otherwise. He didn't follow through. It's another failed campaign promise, maybe for the best... but still an example that he's not a very good negotiator.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Aazadan

You do realize that negotiations on this level don't happen overnight, right? The Pentagon forced a unilateral contract agreement for LRIP 9 after they negotiated for a year and a half. Trump had no control over the Air Force slowing their buy. They were talking about doing that last year, as well as reducing the overall number for the fleet.

I'm aware of that. Trump claimed otherwise. He didn't follow through. It's another failed campaign promise, maybe for the best... but still an example that he's not a very good negotiator.

do u not see the disconnect in your thinking? if it takes a long time to negotiate these things and your aware of that then how is it a broken promise that he hasent followed through on considering he hasent even been in office a year