By The Associated Press
Monday, December 12, 2011
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. have been awarded a $4.01 billion military contract to provide 30 fighter jets to the Air Force, Navy, and the Marine Corps.
The contract, announced Friday, is a modification of an earlier contract. It includes the delivery of 21 conventional takeoff and landing F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets to the Air Force, which will pay $2.64 billion. Six jets with aircraft carrier capabilities will be provided for the Navy, which will pay $937.4 million. Three jets with short takeoff and vertical landing capability are headed for Marine Corp. duty, at a cost of $426.2 million.
The contract also provides for associated mission equipment and flight test instrumentation for those aircraft, and flight test instrumentation for the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom's share of the contract is $4.1 million.
About 67 percent of the work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas. About 14 percent will be done in El Segundo, Calif.; and 9 percent at Warton, United Kingdom. Some work also will be performed in Orlando, Fla.; Nashua, N.H.; and Baltimore, Md.
Contract completion is expected in January 2014.
The Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting agency.
