The F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin have finalized a contract for the production and delivery of up to 398 F-35s for $30 billion, including US, international partners and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) aircraft in Lots 15 and 16, with the option for Lot 17.

“The F-35 delivers unsurpassed capability to our warfighters and operational commanders,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, program executive officer, F-35 Joint Program Office.

“This contract strikes the right balance between what’s best for the US taxpayers, military services, allies and our foreign military sales customers. The F-35 is the world’s premier multi-mission, fifth-generation weapon system and the modernized Block 4 capabilities these new aircraft will bring to bear strengthens not just capability, but interoperability with our allies and partners across land, sea, air and cyber domains.” 

The agreement includes 145 aircraft for Lot 15, 127 for Lot 16 and up to 126 for the Lot 17 contract option, including the first aircraft of its kind for Belgium, Finland and Poland.

Lot 15-17 aircraft will be the first to include Technical Refresh-3 (TR-3), the modernized hardware needed to power Block 4 capabilities. TR-3 includes a new integrated core processor with greater computing power, a panoramic cockpit display and an enhanced memory unit.

According to the company, these aircraft will add to the growing global fleet, currently at 894 aircraft after 141 deliveries this year.