The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin announced today a framework agreement covering a decade of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter production and sustainment, a deal that covers at least 850 U.S. aircraft across 10 production lots, includes initial spares, and provides 10 years of sustainment and modification kits, according to press releases from both parties.
As part of the agreement, Lockheed will fund $7 billion worth of unspecified initiatives for the F-35 program. The company also said it will keep the tri-variant stealth jet’s production rate steady at 156 aircraft annually.
The framework does not increase the fighter’s manufacturing rate, and the announcements do not specify the total cost to taxpayers or expected savings from the multi-year format.
Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Duffey said in the Defense Department’s release: “We have fundamentally changed how we stabilize the American defense industrial base to produce at speed and scale. This agreement with Lockheed Martin proves it. By aligning financial incentives with actual performance, we are ensuring our warfighters are equipped with the lethal capabilities they need to fight and win.”
Lockheed CEO Jim Taiclet said the framework deal “strengthens the way we can plan and invest in the F-35 enterprise” and affords “greater certainty” to “make the upfront investments needed to expand capacity, improve efficiency and build a more resilient supply chain.”
Under the terms, Lockheed and the F-35 Joint Program Office “will work to finalize contract terms, pricing and schedules through a formal contract award” if lawmakers grant the requisite authority and appropriations.
The F-35 is operated by the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. The fiscal 2027 defense authorization bill from the Senate Armed Services Committee includes language permitting multi-year procurement contracts for the F-35; the House version includes a similar provision with additional guardrails. Under the House bill, the defense secretary must certify that the contract includes “the full complement of initial spare parts and alternate mission equipment for each aircraft to be procured under the contract,” and the Pentagon must demonstrate cost savings of at least 5 percent.
Neither the Senate nor House version explicitly authorizes a multi-year sustainment agreement. A previous attempt at a five-year performance-based logistics sustainment contract failed in 2024 when officials could not satisfy a congressional requirement to demonstrate cost reduction or readiness improvement.
A Lockheed spokesperson said the agreement “will not change the process for production slot allocation” for international customers, and that “F-35 international operators are an integral part of the global F-35 fleet, and this agreement will bring the benefit of economies of scale to their future purchase plans.”
A recent agreement for two lots of F-35 production included nearly 300 aircraft at a price of $24.3 billion. Over 1,300 F-35s have been delivered to date.
Sources: DoD News · Defence Blog