UK to meet with F-35 JPO on operations and sustainment 

The No. 2 civilian in the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence is meeting with the F-35 joint program office today to discuss the operations and sustainment cost of the Joint Strike Fighter.

The United Kingdom is “very pleased” with the development of the F-35 and the fact that acquisition costs are “coming down in line with the way we assumed it way,” Permanent Secretary of the MOD Stephen Lovegrove told reporters at a breakfast in Washington today.

The next area of “intense interest” for his nation is the operations and sustainment cost of the F-35, according to Lovegrove.

“In the U.K., typically that is where we have done a less good job of containing costs,” he said. “It’s a very, very complicated platform.”

In addition to meeting with U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan today, Lovegrove said he is convening with a team from the JPO to discuss operations and sustainment costs. “We need to work very, very hard on that,” he added.

“We’ve got headroom in the program, but there is a degree of uncertainty here,” Lovegrove said.

The United Kingdom plans to buy a total of 138 F-35 aircraft, with 48 put on contract so far, the secretary confirmed.