F-35 Overrun Sticks U.S. Taxpayers, Allies With $444 Million Tab
- Lockheed sees 63% overrun on key cockpit electronics upgrade
- Lockheed agrees to forgo about $60 million in fee for overrun
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U.S. taxpayers and allied partners are absorbing a $444 million overrun on an upgrade for Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 that’s key to increasing the power and memory of the fighter jet that’s a flying computer.
The 63% overrun is on an initial $712 million contract awarded to Lockheed in December 2018 to develop and deliver redesigned hardware and software for the aircraft’s cockpit computer. It was a task “more complex than originally thought,” the Government Accountability Office said in its latest annual program assessment that disclosed part of the increase.