The Joint Strike Fighter on show at Australian International Airshow

In the spring of 1995, all three of the contractor teams selected derivatives of the Pratt & Whitney (P&W) F119 engine to power their aircraft. Accordingly, in November 1995, P&W was awarded a contract for preliminary design of each of the primary JSF engine concepts. Concurrently, General Electric was awarded a contract to investigate whether the GE F110 or YF120 could be developed into an alternate engine for one or more of the JSF variants. In 1996, the YF120 was identified as the "best fit" for a tri-service solution and GE initiated preliminary design efforts.

Several Defense Acquisition Board (DAB)-level program reviews were conducted in late 1995. The final Requests for Proposal (RFP) were issued to the contractors in March 1996. By that time the JAST program name had changed to Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

In May 1996, JSF was designated an Acquisition Category I, DoD acquisition program. In June, the weapon system prime contractors submitted their Concept Demonstration Phase (CDP) proposals. A formal Milestone I Acquisition Decision Memorandum was signed by the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition & Technology) on 15 November 1996, clearing the way for the award of CDP prime contracts to Boeing and Lockheed Martin on 16 November 1996.

Today, the JSF program is nearing the end of the CDP. Once the aircraft have completed their flight test programs and the JSF Program Office has had the opportunity to review the proposals from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, a single contractor will be awarded the Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract to begin developing and producing the Joint Strike Fighter for the U.S. and its allies. The U.S. Air Force will be the largest JSF customer, purchasing 1763 CTOL aircraft.

The U.S. Marine Corps is expected to purchase 609 STOVL aircraft, and the U.S. Navy about 480 CV aircraft. The U.K. Royal Air Force and Royal Navy will purchase 150 of the STOVL variant.

With affordability as its cornerstone, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is designed to offer next-generation technologies and capabilities with a price tag comparable to that of current-generation multi-role fighters. Despite its affordable up-front price, the F-35 will deliver the greatest cost savings through long-term ownership.

"The F-35 will require less than half the people, parts and equipment to deploy rapidly anywhere in the world," said Luke Gill, Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] vice president of F-35 JSF Global Sustainment. "The extraordinary range of the F-35 and its small logistics footprint cut airlift requirements in half and significantly reduce the need for aerial-refueling aircraft."

Operation-and-support typically comprises two-thirds of a fighter's ownership costs. The F-35's designed-in efficiencies mean that those expenses will decline dramatically - by an estimated 20 to 30 percent. The F-35 operates with a suite of Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) capabilities that monitor the status of aircraft systems and automatically transmit the information to maintainers on the ground. PHM enables technicians to meet the aircraft with all necessary tools, people and parts to conduct the maintenance and get the plane airborne again quickly.

...continued