Deliveries Stand at 894 – Up to 398 More Authorised
Capping a year in which 141 F-35 aircraft were delivered and the global fleet reached 894, the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) and Lockheed Martin have finalised the contract for production and delivery of up to 398 F-35s for $30 billion, including US, international partners and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) aircraft. The agreement includes 145 aircraft for Lot 15, 127 for Lot 16, and up to 126 for the Lot 17 contract option, including the first F-35 aircraft for Belgium, Finland and Poland.
“The F-35 delivers unsurpassed capability to our warfighters and operational commanders,” commented Lt Gen Mike Schmidt, Program Executive Officer for the JPO. “This contract strikes the right balance between what’s best for the US taxpayers, military services, allies and our foreign military sales customers. The F-35 is the world’s premier multi-mission, 5th-generation weapon system, and the modernized Block 4 capabilities these new aircraft will bring to bear strengthens not just capability, but interoperability with our allies and partners across land, sea, air and cyber domains”.
Lot 15-17 aircraft will be the first to include Technical Refresh-3 (TR-3), the modernized hardware needed to power Block 4 capabilities. TR-3 includes a new integrated core processor with greater computing power, a panoramic cockpit display and an enhanced memory unit.
These aircraft will add to the growing global fleet, currently at 894 aircraft after 141 deliveries this year. The F-35 team was on track to meet the commitment of 148 aircraft as planned; however, due to a temporary pause in flight operations, which is still in effect, necessary acceptance flight tests could not be performed.
The contract caps a year in which the F-35 delivered combat-proven airpower around the world and continued international growth. A total of 141 aircraft were delivered against a target of 148: a temporary pause in flight operations meant that some acceptance flight tests could not be conducted, unavoidably delaying delivery of aircraft ready for service. During 2022, Finland, Germany and Switzerland signed Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs) as an important step in their procurement of aircraft. “Continuing to add new countries to our global F-35 fleet further validates the capability and affordability of this aircraft in providing 21st Century Security to nations and allies,” stated Bridget Lauderdale, Lockheed Martin VP/GM, F-35 Program. “There is simply no other aircraft that can do all that the F-35 does to defeat and deter even the most advanced threats”.
