Thursday, March 28, 2024

Lockheed Martin delivers the 700th F-35 stealth fighter jet

Pentagon’s No.1 weapons supplier Lockheed Martin Corp said on Monday that it has reached 700 F-35 stealth fighter jet deliveries. 

“The 700th F-35 has been delivered — a milestone that represents the critical growth of the most advanced node in the 21st Century Warfare architecture to deter aggression and win the high-end fight,” the company said on Twitter.

Furthermore, Lockheed Martin is scheduled to deliver 133-139 aircraft this year, 151-153 aircraft in 2022 and anticipates delivering 156 aircraft beginning in 2023 and for the foreseeable future.

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As Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall noted last week, “we need to move toward things that are more relevant to the fights we have to deter and, if necessary, win.” The F-35 is both the cornerstone of the fleet and a strategic deterrent.

With the commitment of 14 nations and counting, the U.S. and its allies are powering partnerships, security and economic growth through the F-35 program. By leveraging collective investments and economies of scale, the global F-35 team lowers costs across the program.

“The F-35 remains a premier air system of choice for three of the armed forces, seven international partners and six foreign military sales customers. It routinely demonstrates high-end capabilities at the hands of our joint and international warfighters, and it’s performing in combat operations from land and sea,” said Pentagon press secretary John F. Kirby.

F-35 Lightning II fighter jets operating from 21 bases around the globe. More than 1,460 pilots and 11,025 maintainers have been trained and the F-35 fleet has surpassed 430,000 cumulative flight hours.

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Executive Editor

About author:

Colton Jones
Colton Jones
Colton Jones is the deputy editor of Defence Blog. He is a US-based journalist, writer and publisher who specializes in the defense industry in North America and Europe. He has written about emerging technology in military magazines and elsewhere. He is a former Air Force airmen and served at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

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