Perhaps 'peter we' meant to say "Full Rate Production" (as defined by LM below) rather than [LRIP] "Production"? Anyhoo....
LM FAQs F-35:
...“What is the cost of an F-35? How is that cost determined?
The estimated cost for an F-35A conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) aircraft purchased in 2018 and delivered in 2020 (the first expected year of full rate production) will be about $85 million in inflation adjusted “then year” dollars. This is equivalent to about $75 million in 2012 dollars. That price includes the airframe, engine, mission systems, profit and concurrency.
F-35 unit recurring flyaway (URF) costs have been going down with each successive lot of aircraft. Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney have track records for delivering the airframe and engine below government SAR estimates and we expect this trend to continue in the future.
This Joint Program Office average unit recurring flyaway (URF) calculation is based on the 2011 Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) to Congress and derived from actual F-35 cost on early production lots. These URF calculations take credit for learning from projected U.S. and international F-35 quantities (716 International/2,443 U.S. DoD).
What is full-rate production, and how does the overall production strategy affect the cost of the program?
Full-rate production of the F-35 Lightning II will be a pace of more than 200 jets per year, or about one completed each working day. At this volume, all F-35 customers benefit from economies of scale in both aircraft price, and in providing components and systems.”...
https://www.f35.com/resources/faqs/c...mic-innovation