Pentagon sees 6,000 possible F-35 sales

PARIS (Reuters) - The head of the Pentagon's F-35 fighter program said on Wednesday that total sales of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could reach 6,000 over time, based on the number of fourth-generation fighters in use that would eventually need to be replaced.

Brigadier Gen. David Heinz, program executive officer for the F-35, said development and testing of the new fighter jet was going well, and the United States and its eight foreign partners were expected to order more than 3,100 fighters.

Initial foreign military sales to other countries such as Spain, Israel, Greece, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Finland could add at least 1,000 more orders.

In time, as world fleets of F-15, F-16, F-18 and other fighter jets need replacements, sales could climb as high as 6,000, Heinz told reporters at the Paris Air Show.

At the air show, Heinz presented official F-35 medals to representatives from each of the eight countries helping to develop the plane, noting that they all had recently reaffirmed their support for the program.

For instance, Britain recently said it would participate in operational testing of the jets and made commitments to buy three test aircraft.

"If I take a look at the entire inventory of the world that are flying Harriers, F-16, F15s and other fourth-generation airplanes, as those airplanes age out, I believe my airframe will be competitive," Heinz said.

"As I get down the affordability curve, as we deliver a world sustainment product, I think F-35 will be very competitive in that, but I welcome the competition," he said, when asked if current fighter competitions involving fourth-generation jets would take away some demand for the new fifth-generation fighter.

Heinz said he was confident the F-35 would do well in Japan's FX fighter competition, noting that the Pentagon had repeatedly said it was not offering the F-22, in which Japan has expressed interest in the past, for export.

Tom Burbage, executive vice president at Lockheed, said the program was working closely with the international partners to facilitate a consortium buy even before the United States was able to move to a multiyear purchase.

That would help lower the cost further, he said.

The F-35 is the newest family of advanced fighter planes intended to replace 13 existing fighters for the U.S. military and eight partner countries -- Canada, Britain, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and Australia.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Maureen Bavdek)