BOEING MAY BE INCLUDED IN JSF WORK LOCKHEED WILL ASK FOR INPUT.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Lockheed Martin officials indicated Thursday they will talk with Boeing about the possibility of bringing them in on the joint strike fighter program.

Switching gears from statements that they would only talk with Boeing if the federal government asked, Lockheed Martin officials said they owed it to the taxpayers to see if Boeing could contribute to the project, for which Lockheed Martin received on Friday an $18.9 billion contract.

``Notwithstanding the decisive conclusion by the government regarding the Lockheed Martin team offering, we will be speaking with our competitor, Boeing, about capabilities from their proposal that they could possibly bring to the program to enhance the value of the JSF team,'' Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. President Dain Hancock said in a statement released Thursday. ``We take very seriously our responsibility to now deliver the total best-value solution. That's a commitment we've made to the U.S. and U.K. governments, as well as to the taxpayers.''

Company officials did not say in what areas Boeing might be able to assist their team.

Lockheed Martin has already held an initial meeting with Boeing officials about the program. Another meeting is expected within a few days.

Lockheed Martin is already partnered with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems, a British aerospace company, on the joint strike fighter program.

Thursday's statement came the day Lockheed Martin officially entered into the next phase of the program.

This next portion, referred to as the System Development and Demonstration phase, is a $25 billion, 126-month effort that involves the construction of 14 aircraft to be flight-tested and eight others to be tested on the ground.

The first flight is scheduled to occur in four years.

The joint strike fighter is being developed to replace the Air Force's F-16s and A-10s and the Marine Corps' AV-8 Harrier F-18 fighters. The joint strike fighter will also augment the Navy's F/A-18 aircraft.

The United Kingdom is also a customer. The United Kingdom wants the aircraft to replace its Sea Harrier and GR-7 jets.

Combined, the United States and United Kingdom plan to buy over 3,000 joint strike fighters. The value of the production of those jets is estimated at more than $200 billion.

There is a potential for an equal number of sales to allied nations.

The Pentagon announced the selection of Lockheed Martin to develop the fighter at a news conference on Oct. 26. Since then, both Lockheed Martin and Boeing have been briefed on the reasons for the selection.

``Our 'A' was not as good as Lockheed Martin's 'A-plus,''' Jerry Daniels, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems, said in a statement released Thursday. ``I think Major General Mike Hough, the government's program manager for JSF, summed it up best: ``Boeing rated a 9 and Lockheed rated a 10.``

The Boeing design met and exceeded government requirements, but the Lockheed Martin exceeded them even more and in key areas, Daniels said.

Boeing scored higher than Lockheed in overall management and in past performance. Boeing generally tied in terms of affordability, although the company was deemed to have more risk factors in that area, Daniels said.

Lockheed Martin consistently scored higher in air vehicle design, Daniels said.

Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin officials said the biggest factor was probably the different approaches the companies took in trying to meet the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing, or STOVL, requirement of the Marine Corps.

Boeing went with an improved variation of existing direct-lift technologies already in use by Harrier jets. The technology uses movable exhaust nozzles to to transition between normal flight and vertical lift.

Lockheed Martin opted for a new technology that uses a shaft-driven lift fan mounted directly behind the cockpit to generate cool-air vertical thrust.

Lockheed Martin officials had argued their design allows the engine to run cooler and more efficiently.

``While our design met the requirement, Lockheed Martin's lift-fan approach was judged to have better performance potential than our direct-lift system,'' Daniels said.

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(color in Business section only) The federal government has c hosen Lockheed Martin's version of the joint strike fighter.

Lockheed Martin Corp