F-35: the Pentagon would like maintenance to guarantee the efficiency of the fighter, but Lockheed is having problems
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin are stalled in reaching an agreement on a new approach to maintenance of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, prompting military officials to explore options for continuing the jet's traditional maintenance structure "at least ” until the end of next year, a senior defense official told Breaking Defense. It involves moving from maintenance contracts in which the bill is paid, regardless of effectiveness, to contracts in which the fee is paid only on the basis of the services obtained.
This is an almost obligatory choice, given the low efficiency levels of the F 35 , but an unwelcome one and difficult to formalize in a contract.
In an interview earlier this month in his Pentagon office, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Maintenance Christopher Lowman said his team worked with Lockheed to certify a performance-based logistics agreement (PBL ) , but a congressional mandate requiring the deal to increase readiness or reduce maintenance costs of the fighter proved a stumbling block. Obviously the manufacturer Lpckheed, which provides maintenance as the main contractor, prefers to be paid without a direct link to performance.
“Congress put a very strict requirement on us before we could award a PBL,” Lowman said, adding that “to this day we cannot certify.”
Because of the impasse, Lowman said Pentagon officials have begun working on drafting a new support contract that would last "at least until the end of '24," indicating it could extend beyond that. “And this is to ensure that there is the structure and support necessary to sustain the F-35s currently in the field and operations globally.” Without the necessary maintenance the F-35 complexes become little more than large ornaments, because it is impossible to fly them.
In a statement provided to Breaking Defense today, the Office of the Secretary of Defense said the current proposed PBL “does not meet” congressional certification requirements. “As a result, the Department is suspending F-35 PBL negotiations with Lockheed Martin,” the statement read, adding that the Pentagon and Lockheed “have agreed to extend the FY23 (FY23A) annual recurring support contract until to March 2024 and are working on a further extension to June 2024.” After which the new contract Lowman refers to will come into force.
According to the OSD, the extension will give the two sides more time to negotiate, while ensuring that no loss of sustainment coverage occurs.
The dollar figure for the extension is not immediately clear; in 2021, the Pentagon awarded Lockheed a sustainment contract worth up to $6.6 billion, with a base year in fiscal 2021 and options through fiscal 23. The PBL would change how the stealth aircraft is used.
The PBL would change the way the stealth fighter is supported: While Lockheed is currently paid on an ad hoc basis for spare parts and maintenance, a PBL would instead tie dollar awards to performance results. The proposed deal, which officials are evaluating, would also last five years, unlike current annual contracts. So no more bills paid at the bottom of the list, but only if the performance is actually maintained or improves. A nice change.
“We continue to view Performance Based Logistics contracts as the primary way to increase parts availability, readiness and long-term cost-effectiveness as the F-35 fleet expands. While we are disappointed by the decision, we remain committed to working with our customers to provide maintenance support, enabling mission readiness and deterrence,” Lockheed said in a statement to Breaking Defense.
The Pentagon's decision to continue the current support agreement was widely expected, but was thought to be a short-term issue. Lockheed officials had said earlier this year that they were confident that the PBL could be brought under contract before the new year, but in September difficulties in reaching a deal prompted executives to push back the deadline to the first quarter of next year .
It is expected that the maintenance of all the Stars and Stripes F-35s will cost 1300 billion dollars over their entire life cycle: a huge sum, even for such a modern fighter.
“I believe that performance-based logistics, where you are held accountable for an outcome, drives performance,” Greg Ulmer, head of Lockheed's aviation division, told Breaking Defense during an interview at the Paris Air Show all early this year, adding that his desire is for something more long-term. The days of meaningless repairs are over.
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The article F-35: the Pentagon would like maintenance to guarantee the efficiency of the fighter, but Lockheed has problems comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/f-35-il-pentagono-vorrebbe-che-la-manutenzione-garantisse-lefficienza-del-caccia-ma-lockheed-fa-problemi/ on Fri, 24 Nov 2023 15:32:08 +0000.