With the finalization of their Lots 15 and 16 agreement, the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin announced this week that the company will produce and provide up to 398 F-35s in exchange for $30 billion.
These lots themselves include 272 aircraft. However, the arrangement includes an option for Lot 17, which would consist of another 126 aircraft.
“The F-35 delivers unsurpassed capability to our warfighters and operational commanders,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, program executive officer at the F-35 Joint Program Office, said. “This contract strikes the right balance between what’s best for the U.S. 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.”
The agreement marked plans to push the F-35 fleet beyond its current 894 aircraft inventory. This was achieved last year after the successful delivery of 141 additional jets. The new units will also bring the first of their kind to Belgium, Finland, and Poland, marking major gains for U.S. allies in Europe. These latest units will also be the first to include modernized hardware to power Block 4 capabilities, including new, more powerful integrated core processors, panoramic cockpit displays, and enhanced memory units.
Lockheed Martin reported that in 2022, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland also signed Letters of Offer and Acceptance, putting them in line for procurement of F-35s as well. Currently, 17 countries participate in the F-35 program.
“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,” said Bridget Lauderdale, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of the 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.”