USA to Purchase 850 F-35 Fighter Jets

The US Department of Defense and the defense and aerospace company Lockheed Martin reached a framework agreement covering the production of at least 850 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets over a 10-year period. The agreement, announced on October 22, 2026, includes aircraft production, as well as spare parts supply, modernization kits, and maintenance and support activities of the global F-35 fleet.

Under the agreement, Lockheed Martin will invest at least $7 billion in equity investments in initiatives that will support the F-35 program. However, this amount does not represent the total contract price of 850 aircraft. The final pricing and delivery schedule will be finalized once the multi-year contract is authorized and the necessary financing is secured.

Under the agreement, Lockheed Martin aims to maintain the F-35 production rate at 156 aircraft per year. Long-term production planning aims to ensure that the company's suppliers receive more predictable orders for raw materials and critical parts, strengthen production capacity and reduce bottlenecks in the supply chain.

The framework agreement covers aircraft planned for the United States as well as orders from international customers. Thus, it is envisaged that production planning will be shaped not only according to the needs of the USA but also the demands of global F-35 users.

However, the announced agreement is not yet a final production contract. Multi-year procurement authorization, Congressional approval and provision of necessary appropriations will be decisive in turning the agreement into an official contract.

The scope of the agreement is not limited to the production of new warplanes. Initial spare parts supply, 10-year modernization kits and maintenance and support activities of the global F-35 fleet are also among the components of the agreement.

This approach considers production and maintenance and logistics processes that support the operational availability of aircraft. One of the goals of long-term planning in defense procurement is to reduce delays in parts supply and make maintenance processes more predictable.

Lockheed Martin expects the program to support approximately 317 thousand jobs in the United States over the next 10 years and generate approximately $79 billion in annual economic activity. These figures are the company's predictions and do not represent actual economic results.

The company assesses that more stable order flow will help reduce production costs and reduce disruptions in the supply chain. Among the stated objectives of the model are long-term purchases to reduce unit costs and save the public budget.

According to Lockheed Martin's statement, more than 1,375 F-35s are in service around the world and the total flight time of the aircraft fleet has exceeded 1 million hours. The F-35 family is used in the air forces and naval aviation elements of various allied countries as well as the USA.

The new framework agreement is part of the US's approach to support its warplane production capacity with long-term orders. However, the exact cost of the agreement, price per aircraft and delivery schedule have not yet been announced. These elements are expected to be clarified during the official contract process, which will be held after the necessary authorization and financing conditions are met.