Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 45 F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighters in 2023 - with around 50 more in production

The new week has begun with unpleasant news coming from Lockheed Martin. It has to do with another cancellation of deliveries of the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jets.

Here's What We Know

The company had originally planned to hand over 147 to 153 fighter jets to the US Department of Defense in 2023. However, the Pentagon will discontinue deliveries of the F-35 Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) from July. Lockheed Martin has responded and said it will continue to work with the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) on software development. At the same time, deliveries of TR-2 level aircraft will continue.

The company noted that it is too early to say how much the Pentagon's decision will reduce F-35 deliveries in 2023. But it is already clear that the manufacturer will not be able to reach the planned level of 147-153 fighters.

Lockheed Martin said the day before that it had been able to deliver more than 45 aircraft since the start of 2023. In addition, approximately 50 more F-35 Lightning II TR-2s are in production.

Note that this is the third time in less than a year that deliveries have been halted. Last year, the Pentagon put them on pause twice: due to detection of Chinese alloy in the magnet and due to vibrations in the F135 propulsion system.

Source: Defence News