Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $49 million contract to design a new variant of the F-35 for an unspecified foreign customer. According to the deal, revealed by the Pentagon last Monday (27), the manufacturer of the stealth fighter will carry out engineering activities and other services in the development of a tailored variant of the JSF (t Strike Fighter).
Development is expected to be completed by 2026 and will be overseen by the military's Naval Air Systems Command. The total amount of contract is $49.059.494. Work will be done in Fort Worth, Texas (77%); Redondo Beach, California (14%); Orlando, Florida (6%); Baltimore, Md. (1%); Owego, New York (1%) and Samlesbury, UK (1%).
To date, the only F-35 operator that has made modifications to the 5th Generation jet is Israel, which has integrated locally manufactured systems into its own variant, the F-35I Adir. All other customers received a standard export version.
In addition, the Israeli Air Force is also the only one to have a test aircraft for validation of new avionics, weapons and model modifications.
So far it is not known what modifications Lockheed will make to this “special version” of the F-35. The same goes for the unspecified customer of the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
Speculation points to the United Arab Emirates. About two weeks ago, the newspaper The Washington Post revealed a letter from the government in Abu-Dhabi where the leaders made it clear that they were abandoning their intention to buy the F-35 because they did not agree with the US-imposed security restrictions.
In particular, the government of the United Arab Emirates considers that the security requirements demanded by the United States are unacceptable. The safeguards are specifically designed to prevent sensitive military technologies and resources from falling into Chinese hands.
However, the US Secretary of State said that is ready to move forward with the sale of the stealth fighter jets.
“As far as the UAE, the F-35s and the drones are concerned, we remain prepared to move forward with both if that is what the UAE is interested in doing,” said Secretary Antony Blinken during a visit to the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday (15).
The portal Flightglobal notes that selling the F-35 to the UAE is complicated because the US is committed to ensuring Israel has a military advantage over its neighbors. Israel has plans to acquire up to 50 examples of the F-35.
