Lockheed, Pentagon announce $8.5 billion F-35 orde
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The Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) announced on Friday an agreement worth about $8.5 billion for 90 F-35 jets, the lowest price to date for the Pentagon's most expensive program.
The deal for the tenth lot of the stealthy fighter aircraft brings the price per jet to below $95 million for the first time, compared to $102 million in the previous batch, a savings of $728 million.
This is more than the $600 million that U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on Monday he had been able to shave off from the F-35 program, which he had described as "out of control" in December.
Lockheed Martin said in a statement that "President Trump's personal involvement in the F-35 program accelerated the negotiations and sharpened our focus on driving down the price."