Lockheed Martin has received $7.8 billion to produce 126 fifth-generation F-35 fighters for the US, UK and seven other countries.

The U.S. Department of Defense has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin for the production and supply of fighter jets

fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II.The Pentagon officially announced the deal on its website.

What is known

Batch #17 is the last part of the bigorder for the production of 398 fifth-generation fighters. The agreement was signed at the end of 2022. Lots #15 and #16 include 145 and 127 aircraft, respectively.

The value of the new deal was almost $7.8 billion.The new contract involves the production of three versions of the fighter (F-35 A / B / C) for the Air Force, Navy, US Marine Corps and foreign customers:

  • US Air Force - 43 F-35A units;
  • US Navy - 13 F-35Cs;
  • US Marine Corps - 15 F-35B + 6 F-35C;
  • Finland - 8 units of F-35A;
  • Italy - 7 units F-35A + 2 units F-35B;
  • Netherlands - 6 units of F-35A;
  • Poland - 6 F-35A units;
  • Japan - 4 units F-35A + 2 units F-35B;
  • Belgium - 4 F-35A units;
  • United Kingdom - 7 units of F-35B;
  • Denmark - 3 F-35A units.

Contract for 398 fifth generation fightersstrikes the right balance between what is best for US taxpayers, the military, allies, and foreign customers. This was stated by US Air Force General Mike Schmidt (Mike Schmidt), who is responsible for the purchase of F-35 for US military services and foreign allies.