Gregory Ulmer on cost effectiveness
From RAeS Webinar: Sopwith Named Lecture 2021 · · Royal Aeronautical Society
“The program provides 21st century capability at the same or less cost of late 20th century 4th gen fighters by investing in new technologies to enhance reliability and maintainability of the jet.”
On , Gregory Ulmer, Executive Vice President of Aeronautics at Lockheed Martin Corp, spoke about cost effectiveness during RAeS Webinar: Sopwith Named Lecture 2021 on Royal Aeronautical Society.
About Gregory Ulmer
Gregory Ulmer, Executive Vice President of Aeronautics at Lockheed Martin, has discussed the F-35 program's progress in production, cost reduction, and sustainment. He stated that Lockheed Martin reduced its portion of F-35 sustainment costs per flight hour by 44% over the past five years and aims to lower it another 40% over the next five years, targeting a cost of $25,000 per flight hour by 2025. Ulmer noted that the company signed block buys for lots 12, 13, and 14, achieving an $80 million unit cost for the F-35A model in lot 13, one year earlier than planned, with the lot 14 price below $78 million. He also addressed the transition from the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) to the Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN), describing an 80% reduction in hardware components and successful initial flight tests. Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Ulmer said supplier delays impacted production, leading to an alternate work schedule for 12 weeks, with a revised delivery target of 121 aircraft for 2020, down from a pre-pandemic plan of 141. Ulmer has also highlighted the F-35's international partnerships and capabilities. He noted that the United Kingdom, as a Tier One partner, builds 15% of the value of planned F-35s, supporting over 20,000 UK jobs annually. He confirmed that the F-35 was selected in Switzerland's competition, ranking first in three of four categories and quoted about 2 billion francs below the next competitor. On the fastener issue, Ulmer stated that a worst-case engineering analysis assuming every fastener was in the wrong location showed a design limit load of 131%, providing significant margin, and that corrective actions included kitting materials to prevent commingling. He also discussed the F-35's sensor fusion, 360-degree situational awareness, and plans to expand internal weapons bay capacity from two to six air-to-air missiles.