(Reuters) – Lockheed Martin Corp is in the final stages of negotiations with the Pentagon about an eighth batch of F-35 fighter jets, with an agreement weeks or perhaps only days away, the head of the company’s aeronautics division said on Tuesday.
Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president of Lockheed’s aeronautics division, said the company was in daily touch with the U.S. Defense Department about a few remaining issues on the next order of 43 warplanes.
“We are in the endgame of the negotiation, ” Carvalho told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit. “Our hope is that we’ll close shortly. I’ll say weeks … maybe if we’re a little bit lucky, days.”
Lockheed and Pentagon officials had originally hoped to conclude the current round of contract negotiations by late May or June.
Carvalho said Lockheed was also in talks with the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office about possibly negotiating contracts for the next two F-35 orders – the ninth and 10th batches of jets – at the same time to capitalize on large economies of scale and drive the cost lower.
Such a deal would cover 154 aircraft if the two sides agree to follow that plan. Lockheed negotiated with the Pentagon for the sixth and seventh batches at the same time several years ago, and Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp is negotiating with the Pentagon about the seventh and eighth batches of jet engines.
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