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Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II procurement is the planned selection and purchase of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) by various countries. The F-35 Lightning II was conceived from the start of the project as having participation from many countries, most of which would both contribute to the manufacture of the aircraft and procure it for their own armed forces. While the United States is the primary customer and financial backer, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Norway and Denmark have agreed to contribute US$4.375 billion toward the development costs of the program.〔("F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Lightning II – International Partners." ) ''GlobalSecurity.org''. Retrieved: 7 April 2010.〕 Total development costs are estimated at more than US$40 billion (underwritten largely by the United States), while the purchase of an estimated 2,400 planes is expected to cost an additional US$200 billion.〔Merle, Renae. ("GAO Questions Cost Of Joint Strike Fighter." ) ''Washington Post'', 15 March 2005. Retrieved: 15 July 2007.〕 Norway has estimated that each of their planned 52 F-35 fighter jets will cost their country $769 million over their operational lifetime.〔(41st PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Standing Committee on National Defence ) ''Parliament of Canada'', 24 November 2011. Accessed: 15 December 2011.〕 The nine major partner nations, including the U.S., plan to acquire over 3,100 F-35s through 2035,〔("Estimated JSF Air Vehicle Procurement Quantities." ) ''JSF.mil'', April 2007. Retrieved: 29 March 2010.〕 which, if delivered will make the F-35 one of the most numerous jet fighters. ==Participation and orders== There are three levels of international participation. The levels generally reflect the financial stake in the program, the amount of technology transfer and subcontracts open for bid by national companies, and the order in which countries can obtain production aircraft. The United Kingdom is the sole "Level 1" partner, contributing US$2.5 billion, which was about 10% of the planned development costs〔("JSF Global Partners." ) ''teamjsf.com''. Retrieved: 30 March 2007.〕 under the 1995 Memorandum of Understanding that brought the UK into the project.〔"US, UK sign JAST agreement." ''Aerospace Daily'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 25 November 1995, p. 451.〕 Level 2 partners are Italy, which is contributing US$1 billion; and the Netherlands, US$800 million. Level 3 partners are Canada, US$475 million; Turkey, US$195 million; Australia, US$144 million; Norway, US$122 million and Denmark, US$110 million. Israel and Singapore have joined as so-called "security cooperative participants" (SCP).〔Schnasi, Katherine V. ("Joint Strike Fighter Acquisition: Observations on the Supplier Base." ) ''US Accounts Office''. Retrieved: 8 February 2006.〕 Some initial partner countries, including the United Kingdom,〔 Norway,〔 Netherlands〔 and Australia,〔 as well as Thailand, Indonesia and Israel,〔Jesmain, Andrew. ("Report on U.S. Competitiveness in the Fighter Aircraft Export Market." ) Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2009. Retrieved: 23 November 2009.〕 have wavered in their public commitment to the JSF program, hinting that the design goals are overambitious or warning that unless they receive more subcontracts or technology transfer, they will forsake JSF for the Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab JAS 39 Gripen, Dassault Rafale or simply upgrade their existing aircraft. Furthermore, F-35 export competitiveness has been hurt by international buyers finding either its export variant too costly per unit or "watered down".〔 While the F-16E/F costs $50 million per export copy, the F-35 is likely to cost between $110–130 million.〔Kathryn Carlson, ("Fighter jets to cost more than $100 million each — US budget Watchdog" ) ''National Post'', 30 March 2011.〕 The exported F-35 versions will have the same configuration as the U.S. versions, according to Brigadier-Gen. David Heinz, program executive officer in 2009.〔Shalal-Esa, Andrea. ("Pentagon F-35 chief blasts Boeing comments." ) ''Reuters'', 15 June 2009.〕 However, countries friendly to the United States are skeptical that they will be able to acquire versions of the fighter that are identical to the United States production version; Japan and Australia, for instance, are still prevented by Congressional U.S. export restrictions from acquiring the earlier F-22s.〔 In 2001 Lockheed Martin claimed a potential market of 5,179 aircraft, including exports beyond the partner countries. The size of the market was instrumental in determining many of the cost calculations and economies of scale. More recent critical analysis has seriously questioned the assumptions made in estimating these markets and hence the resulting unit cost of the aircraft and its life-cycle costs as well. Congress may allow the US military to perform a "block buy" of 477 aircraft over 3 years, starting the cost/scale-spiral in a desirable direction. Several government officials, including Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement, have used the production number of 5,000 as recently as September 2010 as an indication of the supposed benefit to industry in providing components and services for this large fleet. Analyst Kenneth Epps stated in November 2010: "The global F-35 market of “up to” 5,000 aircraft cited by Canadian industry and government officials is outdated and now greatly overstated. Realistically, the likelihood of worldwide F-35 sales is closer to the figure now given as the order total for the program partner countries, that is, “up to” 3,500 aircraft. The uncritical use of F-35 sales projections that are now almost 10 years out of date calls into question other claims made by officials about the F-35 program." An issue that affects all the international partners in the F-35 involves access to the computer software codes for the aircraft. The F-35 relies heavily on software for operation of radar, weapons, flight controls and also maintenance. The US military has stated that "no country involved in the development of the jets will have access to the software codes" and has indicated that all software upgrades will be done in the US. The US government acknowledges that Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Turkey have all expressed dissatisfaction with that unilateral US decision. The UK specifically indicated they might cancel its entire order of F-35s without access to the coding, without which the nation will be unable to maintain its own aircraft. Allen Sens, a defence analyst at the University of British Columbia stated in November 2009: "What has happened is really quite unusual because we're talking about some of America's very close allies. You would have thought they could build in some maintenance codes that could be accessible to their allies." Sens indicated that the decision could be as a result of concerns about software security and also pressure from Congress to protect jobs in the US.〔Pugliese, David: ''U.S. denies Canada info needed to maintain jets'', Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario, 25 November 2009. pg. A.1〕 In December 2010 leaked United States diplomatic cables disclosed that the US State Department is actively engaged in marketing the F-35 internationally though diplomatic channels and that serious diplomatic pressure had been applied to Norway to buy the aircraft. Jeff Abramson of the Arms Control Association has said that the push to sell the F-35 is part of Obama's "national export initiative" which seeks to double America's export sales through increased arms sales.〔Neild, Barry. ("Obama’s F-35 sales push." ) ''Global Post'', 24 February 2011.〕 European participation in the Joint Strike Fighter project has divided the countries and help preempt a European fifth generation jet fighter program, undercutting exports for their existing models.〔Hoyle, Craig. ("European firms urged to 'get on with it' on UAS collaboration." ) ''Flight Global'', 22 April 2011.〕 In early 2012, after news leaked of a third restructuring of the program in three years, a parade of high-level visitors from the partner countries visited the United States to check on when they could get their aircraft.〔("UK concern over future of US F-35 fighter jets." ), 5 January 2012, ''Agence France-Presse''. Accessed 3 April 2012.〕〔("US military cuts worry Norway." ), 11 January 2012, ''Views and News from Norway''. Accessed 3 April 2012.〕〔Reinout van Wagtendonk, ("Dutch defence minister in Texas to discuss Joint Strike Fighter." ), 11 January 2012, Radio Netherlands. Accessed 3 April 2012.〕〔Lanai Vasek, ("F-35 Joint Strike Fighter delays could force Australia to revert to Super Hornet." ), 6 January 2012, ''The Australian''. Accessed 3 April 2012.〕 Ahead of the usual biannual meeting of military leaders in Australia in mid-March, the partner nations agreed to hold annual meetings at the political level.〔Shalal-Esa, Andrea. ("Support cited for F-35 fighter after joint meeting." ) ''Reuters''. 2 March 2012.〕 In March 2014, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin Canada, Mike Barton, said “We’ve heard nothing about it impacting foreign interest,” in reaction to General Mike Hostage, head of Air Combat Command, calling the aircraft irrelevant without accompanying F-22s. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II procurement」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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