Milestone aircraft delivered to Air Force

Touting the achievement as a testament to the effort’s continued progress and momentum, the F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin recently delivered the 300th production aircraft to the Air Force.

Pentagon officials said the 300th aircraft, a U.S. Air Force F-35A, was delivered to Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

The first 300 F-35s include 197 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variants, 75 F-35B short takeoff / vertical landing variants, and 28 F-35C carrier variants (CV) and have been delivered to U.S. and international customers.

To that end, officials said more than 620 pilots and 5,600 maintainers have been trained, and the F-35 fleet has surpassed more than 140,000 cumulative flight hours.

“This milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our joint government and industry team, as we collaborate to deliver transformational capabilities to the men and women in uniform,” Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of the F-35 program. “We are focused on reducing costs, increasing efficiencies, and ensuring the highest level of quality as we ramp to full-rate production and sustainment of the operational fleet.”

Officials said the price of an F-35A had decreased more than 60 percent from the first contract while touch labor has been reduced by about 75 percent over the last five years.

“The F-35 weapons system is a key enabler of our National Defense Strategy and is providing our warfighters the combat-proven, advanced capabilities they need to meet mission requirements,” Vice Admiral Mat Winter, program executive officer for the F-35 Joint Program Office, said. “The 300th production aircraft delivery is a significant milestone that highlights the effective F-35 Enterprise collaboration across the JPO, U.S. services, partners, and industry.”