Long-Lead-Parts Contract Let for Japan F-35s

Lockheed Martin received a $40. 2 million contract to procure the long-lead-time parts, materials, and components for Japan’s first four F-35 strike fighters, according to the Pentagon’s list of major contracts for March 25. Japan is procuring some 42 F-35As—the Air Force conventional-takeoff variant—under a foreign military sale with the United States that the Pentagon formally announced in April 2012. Under the contract’s terms, Lockheed Martin is scheduled to complete the long-lead work in February 2014, states the contract description. The company will build Japan’s first four F-35As as part of the F-35’s eighth low-rate production lot. (See also Japan Selects F-35.)