F-35: Australia sees price of F-35s drop

I hate to continue to beat this drum, but if you recall, this was one of the main points of criticism. Critics of the program claimed that the manufacturer's promise of dropping prices was a myth and that prices would remain sky high regardless of production numbers.

You can put the stamp of "not true" on that one.

US Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, who heads the JSF acquisition program for the US military, said improved affordability was critical to success of the program.

"These agreements are proof the cost arrow is moving in the right direction," he said in a statement.

He's talking about LRIPs 6 and 7 in which Australia's first two aircraft are included.  Their cost?

While a final price hasn't been disclosed, an estimated four per cent price reduction means Australia is likely to pay around $US101 million ($A112 million) per fighter.

And, as production continues to ramp up?

General Bogdan has suggested the average cost for the Australian JSFs will be about $US90 million ($A100 million) each.

The point, of course, is the critics have yet again been shown to be wrong.   Not that anyone should be particularly surprised by that.

Graff