WASHINGTON — The Pentagon made a $3.7 billion advance payment to Lockheed Martin late Friday for the 11th batch of F-35 aircraft.
The Pentagon and Lockheed still have not reached a final agreement on the 11th lot of F-35 aircraft, which is slated to cover 141 aircraft for the U.S. services and military partners. Although the Defense Department is confident it can hammer out a deal by the end of the year, it regularly uses a mechanism called a “unilateral contract action,” or UCA, to dole out funding to Lockheed so that it can pay its suppliers and buy the materials it needs to meet the planned delivery schedule.
Friday’s award comes on the heels of a $5.6 billion UCA issued July 7, which obligated $4.5 billion for 91 F-35s produced for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.