THE US DEPARTMENT of Defense and Lockheed Martin finalized the contracts for the sixth and seventh F-35 Joint Strike Fighter low-rate initial production (LRIP) lots on September 27. Lot 6 includes 36 F-35s and is valued at $4.4 billion, whereas Lot 7 includes 35 aircraft and is worth $3.4 billion. Although the unit costs associated with each of the three variants differ, there is a significant decrease in the pricing for the Lot 7 aircraft, which is, according to the JSF Program Office, a result of the maturity of the design and improved production processes.
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