Lockheed Martin is on track to deliver up to 190 F-35 fighter jets this year, and company executives expect the program to grow thanks to strong U.S. and international interest, they said during a third-quarter earnings call Tuesday.
“During the third quarter, we delivered 46 aircraft and now expect between 175 and 190 deliveries in 2025. That’s essentially one aircraft delivery every working day of the year,” said Jim Taiclet, Lockheed Martin’s chairman, president, and CEO.
The win comes after Lockheed Martin in July cleared its backlog of F-35s stored in long-term parking due to software problems, which caused a year-long pause in deliveries.
The company also boasted a 12 percent increase in aeronautics sales compared to last year thanks to more F-35 production and sustainment.
“The recent lot 18 and 19 award re-emphasizes the growing demand for the F-35,” Taiclet said. “Moreover, we finalized the $15 billion air vehicle sustainment contract with the Joint Program Office. The four-year deal provides for aftermarket activities such as spare parts, provisioning maintenance, repair, and other support services through 2028.”
Demand for the fighter jet has also grown worldwide, adding to expectations to produce a global fleet of more than 3,500 F-35s.
“International demand for the jet remains strong, with Belgium and Denmark both announcing intentions to expand their fleets. Belgium [is] seeking to procure an additional 11 aircraft, and Denmark [is] expressing interest in adding 16 aircraft to their existing program of record. The steady demand from our international allies for the F-35 demonstrates the unmatched capability of the aircraft and gives us confidence in sustained, long term production,” said Evan Scott, Lockheed Martin’s chief financial officer.
Germany has also indicated it wants to expand its F-35 fleet.
“We ended the third quarter with a backlog of 265 jets, and that’s before adding the extra 151 that came in the first week of Q4. So we have seen strong support domestically and internationally,” Scott said. “The strong advocacy we’ve seen from lawmakers and the focus on air superiority from the administration, that gives us confidence in maintaining the 156 [deliveries] a year rate.”
Sustainment will likely drive future program growth, especially as F-35s are updated with new technologies, such as with the Block 4 upgrades.
Taiclet said that while the tech integrations were complex and challenging, he is optimistic due to “the highest level of collaboration, cooperation” between the government, Lockheed, and F-35 suppliers, including RTX, BAE Systems, and Northrop Grumman.
“We have the best collaboration we’ve ever had and openness with the government, not only to work with us in a teamwork fashion across all of those companies and the U.S. government in the Joint Program Office, but also to remove barriers and delays on the government side, which heretofore hadn’t been addressed that that aggressively, I’ll say,” Taiclet said.“And so we’re in a positive conversation with all the parties that are involved in this Block 4 modernization program, which is really, really important to keep everything on time, to keep the production line going. So I’m confident that we will have a successful block four rollout.”
A recent Government Accountability Office report noted that Block 4 delays are about five years behind the original schedule, pushing the timeline to 2031 and increasing costs by more than $6 billion.
“According to program officials, the new Block 4 major subprogram will have fewer capabilities, will experience schedule delays, and will have unknown costs until the program office finishes developing its cost estimate,” GAO said.
