ATLANTA—GE Aerospace has become the latest F-35 supplier to be converted by Lockheed Martin to a multi-year performance based logistics (PBL) deal.
The Evandale, Ohio-based company signed a four-year global PBL with Lockheed for eight subsystems installed on every F-35: the electrical power management system, standby flight display, remote input-output unit, aircraft memory system, interface units for the fuselage and missiles, and monitoring systems for engine distress and ingested debris.
“This global PBL deal underpins our relentless drive to make the F-35 ever more affordable to operate,” says Chris Newman, GE’s F-35 senior program manager, in a statement released here at Aviation Week’s MRO Americas conference.
GE will perform the work in California, Georgia, Michigan, New York, the UK and Utah.
In a bid to reduce F-35 sustainment costs, Lockheed has been converting several suppliers to PBL contracts, including previous signings by BAE Systems, Collins Elbit Vision Systems and Northrop Grumman.
Lockheed once targeted achieving a $25,000 cost per-flight-hour for the F-35 by 2025, but operating expenses remain significantly higher.
