Lockheed Martin Corp. has drawn three new awards from the U.S. Dept. of Defense, totaling $5.11 billion and all relating to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the single-engine aircraft in use by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy, as well as defense forces in 19 other nations.
The three different F-35 models represent the largest and most expensive U.S. defense program, led by Lockheed and involving 1,650 manufacturing partners.
More than 1,000 F-35 jets have been delivered to date, and the manufacturers are now developing a comprehensive update to the aircraft to incorporate more advanced weapons systems and strategic capabilities, including new aircraft propulsion and data acquisition and processing systems.
The largest award, a $3.91-billion firm-fixed-price contract, calls for Lockheed to design, develop, integrate, test, produce, and deploy an F-35 training and simulation system. The same award will cover modifications/upgrades, and sustainment of the training and simulation system.
The Pentagon announcement indicated much of the work will be performed by Lockheed in Orlando, Fla., and Fort Worth, Tex., and other unspecified locations, and that it will be completed by September 2028.
In another award, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics has drawn a $1.006-billion modification to a previously awarded contract, extending services to provide continued engineering, maintenance, logistics, manpower, and material support for F-35 laboratory facilities and F-35 developmental flight test activities.
This update to the existing contract “adds scope for Foreign Military Sales test requirements, parts support for supplemental fleet aircraft, electromagnetic environment evaluation testing, ground support equipment recapitalization, ground support for additional aircraft, shared simulation services, increased pacing of resolving software product anomaly reports, cyber infrastructure engineering, and an increased number of pilot maintenance training lab devices in support of the F-35 JSF program for the Air Force, Navy, FMS, and the F-35 cooperative program partners.”
Work will be performed mainly at Lockheed locations in U.S., and is expected to be completed in March 2027.
Lastly, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics was awarded a $194.2-million modification to an existing award, increasing the contract ceiling to procure supplies for start-up at military service depots across the U.S. in support of the F-35 aircraft. This work will be completed by December 2029.
