First Refreshed F-35s Draw $238M for Lockheed
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is receiving nearly $238.4 million more in U.S. Dept. of Defense funding for Lot 17 production of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Lot 17 will be comprised of 126 aircraft, and the first in the production program to incorporate the Technical Refresh-3 effort to update the jets’ analytics and data-processing systems, in advance of the forthcoming Block 4 upgrade of the F-35 weapons and sensor technologies.
Lockheed is the prime contractor for the F-35, a single-engine fighter jet with stealth technology and capabilities for air-to-air, air-to-ground, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance missions. Its three aircraft variants are in service for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy, and for the defense forces of 11 other nations. About 1,230 of the aircraft are in service now, and eight more countries are awaiting deliveries of their contracted F-35 jets.
The Pentagon issued the initial contract award for Lot 17 production in 2023, but prolonged disputes over cost, and the readiness and availability of the TR-3 and Block 4 technologies delayed production for several months in 2023 and 2024.
As a result of those delays, Lockheed and DoD have narrowed the scope and extended the schedule for Block 4’s readiness.
However, at the end of September the Pentagon and Lockheed reportedly agreed to terms on the subsequent scope and cost of Lots 18 and 19,
The two new funding awards include a $137,245,941 modification to the initial contract award for Lot 17, to expand its terms to cover “diminishing manufacturing sources and engineering change-proposals implementation and integration, in support of updating configurations for F-35 production aircraft, Lot 17.” This contract is due to be completed in July 2026, and will involve work at various Lockheed locations in Nashua, N.H., Fort Worth, Tex., Palm Bay, Fla., San Diego and El Segundo, Calif., and at several other locales in the U.S., The Netherlands, and Australia.
Separately, Lockheed Martin was awarded a new, $101,125,979 contract for the advanced procurement of parts liable to be scarce due to “anticipated diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages.” The Pentagon did not offer examples of scarce parts or materials, but this contract will be centered at Lockheed’s primary assembly location for the F-35, in Forth Worth, Tex., and completed in September 2027.