JSF

Boeing Ready If JSF Contest Is Abandoned


by Norval G. Kennedy and Jim Mathews


04/18/00 03:52:02 PM U.S. EDT

If the Pentagon abandons its winner-take-all approach to the Joint Strike Fighter, Boeing has made allowances for the rival Lockheed Martin-led team to share “a big block of work,” said Frank Statkus, JSF program chief. He believes that Lockheed Martin has likewise made similar provisions for Boeing.

The JSF is meant to last more than 30 years--flown by U.S Air Force, Navy, and Marines plus the Royal Navy and Air Force--which would effectively block any new light fighter competition in the aerospace industry, leaving only one supplier for the Defense Dept.

Speaking today at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space meeting in Washington, D.C., Statkus said it’s unclear how other contractors would be integrated into the assembly of aircraft. “We are not going to make all the parts,” said Statkus. The Pentagon is poised to announce at any time if JSF will be winner-take-all.

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