01 Nov 16. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has submitted a proposal for U.S. Special Operations Command’s (USSOCOM) next-generation logistics and sustainment support program. Under the Special Operations Forces Global Logistics Support Services (SOF GLSS) contract, U.S. Special Operations Forces will receive a wide range of tailored logistics, maintenance and sustainment services worldwide. The SOF GLSS program is the competitive follow-on contract to the Special Operations Forces Contractor Logistics Support Services (SOF CLSS) contract. Awarded to Lockheed Martin in 2010, SOF CLSS is USSOCOM’s largest service contract vehicle, providing the full scope of logistics services required to support the U.S. Special Operations community.
“Lockheed Martin is the proven partner for the future of U.S. Special Operations logistics and sustainment support,” said Paul Lemmo, vice president of Fire Control / SOF CLSS at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Our agile, innovative and on-demand logistics support for the SOF CLSS program demonstrates our unrivaled dedication to the men and women at the tip of the spear. We have the right team in place to ensure our Special Operators have what they need, when and where they need it.”
01 Nov 16. Pentagon, Lockheed finalize talks on 9th lot of F-35 jets. The U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin Corp concluded negotiations on their ninth contract for F-35 fighter jets after 14 months of negotiations on the more than $6.1bn deal, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
The unilateral agreement on the contract for 57 of the new war planes, will give profit margin certainty to Lockheed and its partners who have been producing the jet under a placeholder agreement known as an “undefinitized contract action”.
People familiar with the contract negotiations who spoke under condition of anonymity said the tenth production contract, a 94-plane deal, was still under negotiation.
In a statement, Lockheed said that the contract was “not a mutually agreed upon contract, it was a unilateral contract action, which obligates us to perform under standard terms and conditions, and previously agreed-to items.” Adding, “We are disappointed with the decision by the government to issue a unilateral contract action.”
People familiar with the procurement process said that the unilateral decision was rare.
The previous lot of 43 jets, lot 8, had an average unit price of $108m per plane. Planes in lot 9 are about $107m per plane, 3.7 percent less, making it the lowest price per jet thus far.
The F-35 is the Pentagon’s costliest arms program. The U.S. Defense Department expects to spend $391bn to develop the plane and buy 2,443 of the supersonic, stealthy new warplanes, in the coming decades.
The ninth batch of jets includes 42 F-35 A-model jets for the U.S. Air Force, Norway, Israel and Japan; and 13 F-35 B-model jets, which can handle short takeoffs and vertical landings, for the Marine Corps and the British navy, as well as two carrier-variant F-35C jets for the U.S. Navy.
Lockheed, and its main partners including Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney and BAE Systems, have been developing and building F-35s for the U.S. military and 10 allies.
Lockheed’s F-35 program manager Jeff Babione had previously said that the price of the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing version of the jet would drop to under $100m per plane in the 10th low-rate production batch.
On Oct. 25 Lockheed, the world’s largest defense contractor, reported a quarterly profit that handily beat analysts’ expectations, as sales of its Sikorsky helicopters pushed total revenue up 14.8 percent. (Source: Reuters)
01 Nov 16. Indonesia still in talks to buy “9 or 10” Sukhoi Su-35 jets – official. Indonesia is in talks to buy “nine or 10” Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, an Indonesian defense ministry official told Reuters on Tuesday, without giving a timeline for any deal.
“We are still negotiating,” Leonardi, head of the defense f