Striking workers at Lockheed Martin shouldn't count on getting support from Pentagon officials worried about the F-35 joint strike fighter program.
There have been no discernible signs that Pentagon officials or military leaders are worried that the Machinists union strike -- now in its fifth week -- will affect development and production of the high-profile F-35."I have not heard anyone in the Obama administration expressing concern about the strike, but that may be because a Democratic administration doesn't want to be seen as pressuring or criticizing the Machinists union," said Loren Thompson, defense industry analyst and F-35 advocate.Thompson, an executive with the pro-defense Lexington Institute think tank and also a consultant to Lockheed, recently wrote a blog post that said the administration's pressure on the Pentagon and Lockheed to cut weapons costs was a key factor leading to the strike.Officials in the F-35 Joint Program Office, the Pentagon's project managers, "are monitoring the situation and are aware of [Lockheed's] performance" but are otherwise neutral about the strike, spokesman Joe DellaVedova said."We're hoping for a mutually beneficial settlement" that would return workers to the Fort Worth assembly plant and allow Lockheed to accelerate jet production and testing, DellaVedova said.Lockheed is under contract to build about 100 planes for the U.S. and foreign governments in five "low-rate initial production" lots. It has delivered 14 of the first 31 aircraft on order, including three since the strike began.Most of the other 17 are complete and in ground or flight testing at the Fort Worth plant, with a total of 61 in some phase of production.As unhappy as the Pentagon has been with progress on the F-35 program, the military doesn't urgently need the jets.All 12 of the early "flight test" aircraft have been flying, along with two of the first production jets in the test program at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.Some union-represented Lockheed workers on the flight test teams are on strike at both Edwards and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., but there has been no indication that the strike has affected testing.Another dozen production jets have been delivered to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., for pilot and maintenance training.But flying at Eglin has been limited. Only a couple of jets are being flown on "orientation" flights until the military inspects the new aircraft before beginning flight training.Lockheed is trying to maintain production and testing by having salaried employees such as engineers and managers fill in for the striking workers.Union leaders say the government and military should be concerned about the quality of work done by people with little training and experience."It's a very complicated aircraft, and you want to have your best people doing that work," said Paul Black, president of District Lodge 776 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.The union walked off the job April 23 after overwhelmingly rejecting Lockheed's final contract offer. Changes in healthcare benefits and the company's desire to end a pension for new employees are key concerns.Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout said the company faces no penalties for delivery delays caused by the strike."There is a contract clause that allows for instances beyond our control such as acts of nature and war," Stout said. "A strike is a circumstance listed in our contract as beyond our control."Bob Cox, 817-390-7723Twitter: @bobcoxict