RIAT: Who knows if it’s coincidence or not, but the Pentagon today announced that after a seemingly endless negotiation for the tenth Low Rate Initial Production lot, Pratt and Whitney was awarded $1.5 billion for 99 F135 engines, as well as backups and spare parts. 

Unit prices for the conventional takeoff and landing systems came down by 2.6 percent. Prices for 13 LRIP 10 Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL)  propulsion systems were pushed down by 4.2 percent.

“The propulsion system team has kept their word in delivering on their price reduction commitments for the F135 propulsion system, which is critical to making the F-35 more affordable for the U.S. military and our allies,” Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 program executive officer. said in a statement. Overall, the price for Pratt’s regular engines have dropped by half since 2009. STOVl engines are down 35 percent, according to the statement.

The award covers 44 Air Force, nine Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) and four Navy engines,

In the “when it rains it pours” category, Lockheed Martin was also awarded $560 million contract today for spare parts, support equipment, Autonomic Logistics Information System hardware and software improvements as part of LRIP 10 for the F-35.