A contract-pricing dispute between F-35 maker Lockheed Martin and key supplier Howmet Aerospace has become public with a Lockheed lawsuit and a vocal Howmet defense.
Lockheed’s lawsuit—filed in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas—alleges Howmet in November demanded a “massive price increase” on titanium materials used in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and other systems, beyond the numbers specified in their underlying contract. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that when Lockheed and other subcontractors refused to meet Howmet’s request, the company stopped supplying.
In another court filing, Lockheed asserted Howmet’s alleged breach of contract constitutes a national security issue, the newspaper reported, because it will delay F-35 deliveries.
For its part, Howmet on Dec. 1 said it has complied with its contractual and regulatory obligations to Lockheed. The cornerstone supplier painted a picture of rising prices for materials, in part due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“Since 2022, Howmet has been transparent with Lockheed Martin about these challenges and has acted in good faith to attempt to reach a reasonable resolution for the benefit and long-term health of the F-35 Program,” Howmet said in a public statement. “While such discussions were still ongoing, Lockheed Martin unfortunately chose to file a meritless lawsuit seeking to compel Howmet to continue to supply product at prices that no longer reflect commercial reality and on terms that Howmet believes it is not contractually obligated to provide.”
The company continued: “Howmet looks forward to defending itself vigorously in court against Lockheed Martin’s claims. In the meantime, Howmet remains open to discussing a reasonable resolution.”
In a related matter, Howmet shot back at Lockheed, asserting the large defense prime permitted customers to sell their revert scrap metal to third parties rather than provide it to Howmet as contractually required. This allowed those other companies to profit from inflated prices on the open market.
According to Howmet’s website, the company provides single-piece forged aluminum bulkheads that form the “backbone” of the aircraft structure. It further supplies titanium bulkheads and the titanium material used to manufacture other airframe structures for all three F-35 JSF variants. Other parts include single-crystal, nickel-based superalloy blades and vanes; rolled rings, and fasteners.
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