Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract worth $7.63 billion to continue production of F-35 fighter jets and specialized hardware for U.S. and international defense customers.
Lockheed’s aeronautics is primarily in Fort Worth, Texas, with additional locations within and outside the continental U.S., reported Gov Con Wire.
The F-35 is the country’s most expensive weapon system. Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office estimated an overall cost of more than $1.7 trillion in taxpayer funds over the life of the aircraft, including production, operation, and sustainment costs.
With a total of 2,500 plane purchases expected, the F-35 remains at the heart of the U.S. military program. The U.S. has received two-thirds of the 837 planes delivered to date, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth) and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) supported the plane’s production following news of the grounding of F-35s for malfunctions.
Veasey emphasized the importance of international sales, citing Germany’s reversal on the plane. Germany ordered 35 F-35s earlier this year, requiring them to be operational between 2025 and 2030, reported Air Force Magazine (AFM).
NATO would also use the stealthy F-35s to transport tactical nuclear weapons. The F-35 offers “unique potential for cooperation with our NATO allies and partners in Europe,” according to German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht.
General Ingo Gerhartz, head of the Luftwaffe, stated that “the F-35 and further development of the Eurofighter for electronic warfare will ensure that the German air force is well prepared for the future.”
Germany would join NATO allies Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States as F-35 customers, as well as non-NATO European countries Finland and Switzerland, both of which recently ordered the plane. This year, Canada, an original F-35 development partner, is also expected to purchase the aircraft.
“The future for the F-35 and jobs at the plant are going to be secure for a long time,” Veasey told the Dallas Morning News, “but the delegation is going to have to work together and be able to make sure that that money continues to flow.”
The F-35 is the U.S. and its allies’ only true fifth-generation multirole fighter. The plane’s stealth capabilities enable the craft to enter and destroy air defenses. The aircraft also has advanced sensors that provide superior situational awareness and allow it to function as a critical information center, sending data to any allied forces in the fight.
According to J.R. McDonald, the vice president of F-35 business development at Lockheed Martin, the U.S. military’s decision to purchase Block 4 upgrades should reassure buyers that the planes will be relevant for a long time.
Western nations will not send their warplanes to Ukraine, for Russia would see it as a declaration of war, the Dallas Morning News claimed. However, as McDonald said in an interview, “obviously the situation in Ukraine makes everybody re-think their protection and the security of their own country.”