F-35 value to UK ‘significantly higher' than before, Lockheed Martin

Seen at its home station of RAF Marham, the F-35B now comprises more than the previously stated 15% of value per aircraft to the UK economy, according to Lockheed Martin. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

The value of the F-35 programme to the economy of the United Kingdom is now “significantly higher” than it was just a few years ago, Lockheed Martin has said.

Speaking to journalists on 24 January, the chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK, Paul Livingston, said that a new economic impact analysis of the international F-35 programme will show that its contribution to the UK has risen significantly since the last such assessment released in December 2020.

“I have just seen an early version of it today, but we have refreshed our economic impact analysis of what the F-35 brings to the United Kingdom,” Livingston said. “A few years ago, when we last published those figures, we said 15% of each F-35 was built by UK companies. Well, that is now a significantly higher number today. I can't give a number right now, but it is significantly higher!”

In the December 2020 report commissioned by Livingston's predecessor, Pete Ruddock, KPMG International Limited assessed that the F-35 programme would contribute GBP40 billion (USD54 billion at the time) in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK Treasury from 2007 to 2038 (GVA is the contribution made to an economy by a single organisation, industry, or sector). The study considered directly managed Lockheed Martin contracts in the UK, and did not include additional added economic value from other companies such as BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, and General Electric.