Lockheed Martin can deliver no more than 780 F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighters from 2026 to 2030

Lockheed Martin has set an order ceiling for fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jets for five years starting in 2026. This is stated in a new procurement document, which was published by the JPO.

Here's What We Know

The US company is capable of building and delivering 156 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets to customers each year under orders for batches #20-24. Deliveries are made within two to three years after the contract is signed.

A JPO spokesperson said that the annual production rate and total volume over a five-year period is a potential ceiling for Lockheed Martin. The company won't be able to build more fighter jets, but a set ceiling is not a guarantee.

JPO hopes that Lockheed Martin can reach a maximum delivery rate of 156 aircraft by 2025. If all goes according to plan, the US company will be able to deliver a maximum of 780 fifth-generation fighters to customers between 2026 and 2030.

So far, the record of deliveries is 142 aircraft. This is how many fighters the company sent to customers in 2021. Lockheed Martin delivered one less aircraft in 2022, despite the target of 148-153 units.

The reason for last year's failure was the crash of an F-35B in Texas. The crash caused the Pentagon to suspend deliveries for several months. Lockheed Martin wanted to deliver 153 aircraft to customers in 2023, but last month the Ministry of Defence banned deliveries of the F-35 TR-3 due to software problems. The company could ship 100-120 aircraft by the end of the year.

The 780 F-35 Lightning II fighters will be valued at tens of billions of dollars. At the end of 2022, Lockheed Martin announced a contract for up to 398 aircraft worth up to $30bn.

Source: Aviation Week