Lockheed, Pentagon finalize deal for 296 F-35s

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s Joint Program Office and manufacturer Lockheed Martin have finalized a deal for roughly $24.3 billion that covers nearly 300 F-35 stealth fighters, the two parties announced Monday evening.

The agreement provides for 148 airframes each in production lots 18 and 19, according to a Pentagon contract announcement, concluding negotiations that have stretched on for roughly two years. The deal includes jets for the US government as well as foreign buyers and deliveries are expected to begin in 2026. 

“The F-35 Lot 18-19 contract represents continued confidence in the most affordable and capable fighter aircraft in production today,” Chauncey McIntosh, Lockheed vice president and general manager of the F-35 program, said in a press release. “We are proud to support our customers and further solidify the F-35’s role in enabling peace through strength.”

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A spokesperson for the F-35 JPO did not immediately have a breakdown available of the cost per aircraft of the tri-variant stealth fighter. A comment from Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Greg Masiello, who recently took the reins of the JPO, was also not available. 

The finalized F-35 contract follows an undefinitized contract action, or UCA, awarded to Lockheed in December to kickstart production for Lot 18. The agreement announced Monday evening covers just the airframes of the stealth fighter, whose engines are produced by RTX subsidiary Pratt & Whitney. The engines are awarded separately by the JPO as government-furnished equipment, which are in turn provided to Lockheed. 

The Pentagon awarded Pratt a nearly $2.9 billion UCA in August to begin production on Lot 18 engines, and after this report was published, a JPO spokesperson told Breaking Defense that the Pentagon plans to “definitize Lot 18 and award the Lot 19 contract for engines in spring 2026.” Once the Lot 18 engine UCA is finalized, or “definitized,” a flyaway cost for the aircraft — an approximation of a pricetag for a plane that’s sitting on a runway ready to go — should become clear. The average flyaway cost of an F-35A across lots 15, 16 and 17 is $82.5 million, Breaking Defense previously reported.

In its press release announcing the Lot 18 and 19 deal, Lockheed said the “increase in price per jet in Lot 18-19 from previous years was less than the rate of inflation.” The Pentagon previously told Breaking Defense that Lot 18 in particular faced “significant price increase[s]” due to inflation and rising raw material costs. The JPO has said that the costs for the fighter’s air frame are “consistent” with those in lots 15-17 when adjusting for inflation.

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