Exclusive: Lockheed nears $37 billion-plus deal to sell F-35 jet to 11 countries

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

BUSINESS NEWS | Sun Jun 18, 2017 | 2:36pm EDT

Exclusive: Lockheed nears $37 billion-plus deal to sell F-35 jet to 11 countries

By Mike Stone

Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) is in the final stages of negotiating a deal worth more than $37 billion to sell a record 440 F-35 fighter jets to a group of 11 nations including the United States, two people familiar with the talks said.

This would be the biggest deal yet for the stealthy F-35 jet, set to make its Paris Airshow debut this week.

The sale represents a major shift in sales practices from annual purchases to more economic multi-year deals that lower the cost of each jet.

The pricing of the jets was still not final, although the average price of the 440 jets was expected to be $85 million, the people said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations publicly.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airshow-paris-f-idUSKBN1990S8

[stephensolomita]

1. Which Countries?

According to Reuters, Lockheed will sell the planes to 11 countries, including the U.S. Does anyone know which other countries will receive the most advanced fighter jet in our arsenal? Each should, of course, pay far more than the United States because their governments did not bear the costs of development.

[Angleae]

3. Australia, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, South Korea, UK, and US

[tableturner]

2. Have we sold stealth planes to other countries before? Isn't the technology classified?