Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Ross, I would like to read you an excerpt from a document that was produced by the Israeli armed forces. I will read it in English because as usual it is in English.
Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, is trying to ramp up orders for the F-35 quickly, even though the aircraft are now expected to remain in testing until 2015. A large order book would allow the firm to offer early buyers much lower prices for each plane, using dollar averaging over a substantial initial batch, instead of charging $150 million-$170 million for early production aircraft and $100 million or so for the same plane 3 years later.
That's pretty interesting, isn't it? We would have a tendency to think that we might as well wait before ordering the planes.
The dynamic is standard for military aircraft of all types, but the F-35 is about 5-7 years late versus its market ideal market window. Potential customers with air fleets that are reaching their expiry date are reluctant to pay those early production costs, and if enough of them defect, the F-35 program as a whole could find itself in trouble.
I would like to know if you agree with what I just read. When you explain your view, could you tell us whether, at this moment, the approximate cost of the aircraft that we will buying from Lockheed Martin is known?