CANBERRA, Australia, 3 May 2013. Australian government officials restated their commitment to purchase 100 F-35 fifth-generation multirole fighters from Lockheed Martin to support the country’s Air Combat Capability Transition, with an Initial Operational Capability date of 2020 for the F-35 fleet.
Lockheed Martin issued the following official statement:
“Lockheed Martin is honored by the trust and confidence the Australian government showed in the F-35 program with today’s announcement. Along with the first two Australian jets in production, which will deliver in mid-2014, we will work closely with the government to support their purchase of their remaining 100 F-35 aircraft.
“Additionally, we will work with Australian industry supporting their participation in the production of components and sub-assemblies for the more than 3,000 F-35s to be built during the life of the program. The projected $5.5 billion of industrial participation will bring long-term economic benefits to Australia for decades.”
