F-16 around the world

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is close to landing a pair of orders for new F-16 fighter jets that would extend the life of the Fort Worth production line beyond 2013.

Ralph Heath, president of the aeronautics division, said Wednesday that the company is "on the cusp" of finalizing deals for new F-16s.

"We could be building F-16s for another five years," Heath said in his presentation at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce's Leaders in Business luncheon at the Fort Worth Club.

After the meeting, Health told reporters that Lockheed is "hopeful Iraq and Oman will be done petty soon." The two Middle Eastern nations have been considered the most likely candidates to order F-16s.

A senior U.S. military officer, speaking to reporters in Washington, said Wednesday that Iraq is "very close" to signing a letter of intent to buy F-16s. "We are hearing encouraging words," said Maj. Gen. Russ Handy, the Air Force's top general in Iraq. Handy said Iraq would buy 18 aircraft with the potential to order 18 more.

Lockheed officials have been saying for months that they need to lock in new F-16 orders soon. The current backlog of fewer than 60 jets will be built by the end of 2013, and Lockheed officials have said they and F-16 suppliers will have to begin shutting down production lines by the end of this year without additional orders. About 2,000 Lockheed workers in Fort Worth are involved with the F-16 program.

Handy said the U.S. is awaiting signature of a formal "letter of offer and acceptance" from the Iraqi government, agreeing to buy a specified number of aircraft, the cost and payment schedule.

As important as additional F-16 orders are, Lockheed and Fort Worth's future economic prosperity are tied to the F-35 joint strike fighter in development, Heath said.

"In the next year, we'll build more F-35s than F-16s," Heath said.

The F-35 program has become the target of many defense spending critics because it is far behind its original development schedule and has been plagued with soaring costs. The Pentagon has said it needs $1.1 billion to pay for cost overruns on the first 31 planes.

But rapid progress is now being made, Heath said. By the end of next year, he added, all of the critical technical issues will have been tested and any new problems resolved.

"We're progressing well. We're ahead of the flight test plan for this year," Heath said. The best way for the government to bring costs down, he said, is to begin ordering and building more airplanes.

But Lockheed's desire for the government to increase F-35 production rates may be hindered by experience, which shows that problems can crop up well into the flight test program.

Flight testing continues to go well, the Pentagon's Joint Program Office confirmed, despite having been suspended three times this year because of newly discovered technical problems, which is the purpose of the testing.

As of this week, 620 of the 645 test flights planned for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 have been completed, bringing the total to about 1,200. That means about 80 percent of planned test flights remain to be performed, and full testing isn't due to be completed until 2016.

"There is much testing ahead. There is a long road ahead," said Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the program office in Washington. "We're pleased with the progress. It leads to a belief in the soundness of the basic design."
Meanwhile, the budget crunch in Washington could further crimp the program. The Senate Defense Appropriations subcommittee voted Tuesday to cut $695 million from the Pentagon's 2012 F-35 funding request.


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