March 28, 2024

Morning Coffee: Lockheed Strike Rattles F-35 Program

F-35C JSF formation

morning coffeeWelcome to Morning Coffee, a robust blend of links to news around the Internet concerning Naval Air Station Patuxent River, NAVAIR, the Pentagon and beyond. The Leader provides this link feature as a survey of the news and announcements affecting the local military economy. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.

F-35C JSF formation

Two F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters flew their first formation flight April 18. (Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

Lockheed Martin strike could threaten the F-35 program, according to Dallas’ WFFA News. KDAF News reports the machinists union expects a long strike. Mother Jones questions whether the strike could ground the fighter program. The Star Telegram says the union could use a dose of realism about their proposed contract. AOL Defense sees the strike as a symptom of program cost control efforts by the Pentagon. Jane’s Defence Weekly says Lockheed pledges to stand by its production schedule (subscription required) for the jet.

NAVAIR contracts: Lockheed gets a $68.2 million and a $45.9 million modifications for “changes to the configuration baseline hardware or software resulting from the JSF development effort.” Time comments, “This is called concurrency.” Meanwhile, King Aerospace gets $11 million for C-9B contractor logistics support services for six aircraft.

Marines extend deployment of the KMAX (subscription required) unmanned helicopter in Afghanistan, Defense Daily reports.

Defense Tech profiles China’s carrier-based fighter jet.

Washington Technology says contractors are turning to strategic communications to give them an edge in contests.

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