TD, the more they build per year the cheaper it is, but they need to replace 6 tails a year, I copy/pasted the lot 8/9 that japan and israel have got more than 6 tails a year. canada are retiring the hornets in 2025, so they could get some in the mix. korea will also start.
For the LRIP Lot 11 award, Lockheed Martin is to acquire long-lead items for 80 F-35A aircraft (28 for the US Air Force [USAF]; 6 for the Royal Norwegian Air Force [RoNAF]; 4 for the Turkish Air Force [TuAF]; 8 for the Royal Netherlands Air Force [RNLAF]; 8 for the Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF];
10 for the Israeli Air force [IAF];
6 for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force [JASDF]; and
10 for the Republic of Korea Air Force [RoKAF]); 7 F-35B aircraft (6 for the US Marine Corps [USMC]; and 1 for the UK Royal Air Force [RAF]/Royal Navy [RN]); and 4 F-35C aircraft for the US Navy (USN).
personally I think it's time the naysayers packed their tents and move to the F/FX programs,
http://breakingdefense.com/2016/02/b...ines-included/
February 11, 2016
Now, Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan says the most common model of the plane, the F-35A, will hit
$80 million to $85 million by 2019 and he expects the price will go lower, especially when it hits multi-year procurement in a few years. That price is in then-year dollars, and it
includes an engine.
He estimated the next two lots,
LRIPs 9 and 10, will come in at just about and then below $100 million a plane. The deal, which had been expected months ago, had hit what Bogdan admitted was an “impasse.” The problem? “I’m not rushing into a bad deal, ” he said, adding that he wasn’t “going to let time pressure me into doing a bad deal for taxpayers.” Total value of the two lots should be around $15 billion.