OMG, he’s at it again. DA’s latest hit piece is predictably light on logic, and for that matter.. math. He included Long Lead, Development, IOT&E, Partner unique (ie paid for by partners and NOT the US), Support, O&M costs for every F-35 ever built (Concurrency & Block 3F updates), and even LL items for Lot 10 into his “airframe only” Lot 9 Procurement “calculations”.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/feature/184049/unit-cost-of-f_35s-delivered-this-year-still-exceeds-%24206m.html

You have to keep the costs of each service & Lot separate in order to make any sense of it and to gauge what the true cost is.

Take the above Long Lead contract for example, it covers LL items for some Partner/FMS customers for 3 years (get a clue Congress!!!). Next year when there are no LL contracts for these customers will you think that they got a lot cheaper that lot & then next? Of course not, you will logically realize that the monies that were set aside for that lot were spent in a previous year. It get even more important when all customers move to a MYP build rate and the LL item buys look like a roller coaster ride.

Using the Comptroller’s number for a gauge of production efficiency is an ignorant way to do it… Especially for program that is ramping up production.

The reasoning is simple, the number includes the Long Lead items for the next FY cycle ($780 mil this year vs $404 mil last year for the F-35A), stand up costs for new units, simulators, and concurrently fixed fore previous jets, etc. These numbers have little to do with the actual production costs & efficiences related to building the F-35 and getting to the $79 mil that Bogdan talked about this month.

Does it surprise anyone that defense-aerospace does not have a comment section? They would get ripped apart for their sloppy reporting and data “analysis”.

FY2018 budget docs are starting to drop (USN dropped but not USAF, prices in RecFlyaway):
http://www.secnav.navy.mil/fmc/fmb/Pages/Fiscal-Year-2018.aspx

F-35B 20 @ $110.3 mil = 7.6% drop from last year
F-35C 4 @ $108 mil = 8.8% drop from last year

USAF: http://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/budget/

F-35A: 46 ordered with a REC Flyaway of $92.1 mil, a 5.3% drop from last year’s order of 48.

what exactly does one need that Swedes don’t have or can’t buy?

Experience.

Nobody has seriously said that Sweden (or Russia, china, etc) would not eventually be able to build a VLO platform. We have only stated that to automatically assume that they will be able to out-do (or even match) what LM has been able to do (with 45+ years of experience, both developmental and operational) is, as they say in court, “assuming facts not in evidence”.

Not sure the question you have about the seat but JSM comes in Block 4.x

Air Force: F-35 3F software drop {Block} challenges resolved

The Air Force expects to operationalize the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s latest “3F” software iteration by September or October of this year, a development which will integrate additional technology and equip the stealth aircraft with a wider range of weapons, service leaders said.

After experiencing some challenges during developmental testing, the 3F software drop {Block} is now improved and sharpened up for delivery, Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, Director, F-35 Integration Office, told reporters.

Engineers made specific efforts to identify and resolve any emerging issues, he explained.

“They are encouraged by the things that they found during developmental testing. They have not seen any show-stoppers in stability or capability at all. There are no ongoing issues with the things they repaired,” Pleus said. “Pilots are very encouraged by what they have seen.”

more at the link

https://defensesystems.com/articles/2017/05/17/f35.aspx