The Pentagon on Thursday said it had reached a "fixed-price" deal with Lockheed Martin to provide more F-35 fighter jets in a bid to contain the cost of the country's most expensive weapons program.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates touted the contract for 30 Model Aircraft signed with Lockheed Martin as part of a broader effort to rein in military spending and force industry to control the costs of weapons projects, which are often overbudget and behind schedule.
"This type of contract shares the costs of overruns between the government and industry up to a fixed ceiling," Gates told a news conference.
"It also shares the rewards when the programs come in under cost," he said.
The fixed-fee contract, worth an estimated five billion dollars, was 15 to 20 percent below an independent cost estimate prepared earlier this year, he said.
The stealth Joint Strike Fighter has faced delays and cost overruns, and the Pentagon overhauled the program earlier this year.
The initial estimate for each F-35 aircraft was 50 million dollars eight years ago but the latest estimate is up to 92 million dollars.
"The contract as structured will enhance the productivity of the Joint Strike Fighter program to reduce overall costs. The department will continue to closely monitor and aggressively manage this important program," Gates added.
The defense secretary this month issued new rules designed to make the military's vast bureaucracy more efficient, setting out guidelines for contracts that make up about 400 million dollars in the department's roughly 700 billion annual budget.
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