bobp wrote:So if the uk is to have 24 F35B available as per the recent SDSR, then when are they actually going to order them, or make advance purchases of parts. All I have seen is the order for 14 spread over several years.
The UK has 17 on order / pre-order / delivered, with 4 in LRIP 8, 6 in LRIP 9 and 3 in LRIP 10. In order to have 42 by 2023, including 24 "operational" in the two squadrons, they must order 25 aircraft spread over the lots 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, which equate to the years 2017, 18, 19, 20, 21. The aircraft are delivered around 2 years after being ordered, so 2021 is the last useful year for ordering aircraft which have to be delivered in 2023.
5 aircraft per year on average does not seem much of a challenge, and there is plenty of time to act. The very first long-lead contract for Lot 11 has been announced by the Pentagon yesterday. It includes a single F-35B for the UK, at this stage, but i wouldn't worry as it is still only an early placeholder: the USAF request itself is just for 28 A, which is far less than they will can be expected to buy in lot 11 (Lot 10 includes 47 USAF F-35A, after all).
Interestingly, even with the USAF pre-order capped at 28, the deal already covers for a healthy total of 80 F-35A: 52 of those are for foreign customers, from Japan to Australia, passing by Israel and South Korea and the Netherlands.
There is also the non trivial matter of defining the "Block Buy" initiative. If the Pentagon can obtain a go ahead from Congress, the idea is to place mega-deal orders grouping together Lot 11, 12 and 13. In a contract presolicitation relating to the Block Buy, the US services alone spelled out a purchase profile of:
Lot 11
- 108 F-35A
- 17 F-35B
- 4 F-35C
Lot 12
- 138
- 26
- 8
Lot 13
- 140
- 26
- 10
Add the other customers in and, if it were to materialize, the numbers of this deal would be really big.
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity ... e&_cview=1