The latest F-35 deal between the government and Lockheed Martin calls for 398 of the fighters to be delivered across production Lots 15-17; nearly 100 fewer fighters than in the last three-lot deal. Meanwhile, unit costs will increase because the newer jets are more sophisticated, ...
F-35A
Germany has formally signed on to buy 35 F-35s, which will begin delivering in 2026. The aircraft are being bought as part of a $112 billion accelerated military modernization program Germany launched after Russia invaded Ukraine.
After weeks of negotiations, top lawmakers unveiled a compromise version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, priming Congress to pass the annual policy bill before the end of the year. For the Air Force, the bill would carry major implications for the future of ...
Generational improvements to combat propulsion performance have never been more pressing for the U.S. as it seeks to ensure continued air dominance in tempestuous theaters like the Indo-Pacific. GE Aerospace's XA100 is the most advanced combat engine in the world, and if implemented it would ...
The new, public version of the National Defense Strategy, unveiled by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Oct. 27, calls out China as the U.S. military’s “pacing threat,” offers no force-sizing construct nor specifics about numbers of forces the U.S. needs.
The Pentagon will soon decide whether to move ahead with a new engine for the F-35, and officials won’t simply table the issue indefinitely, Defense Department acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante said at an acquisition conference. He also said calls to break up the ...
Deliveries of new F-35 fighters have resumed after halting in September following the discovery that a Chinese-sourced material was used in building the aircraft. The resumption of deliveries, ordered by Pentagon acquisition chief William A. LaPlante, went into effect Oct. 8 and extends through delivery ...
The Air Force grounded its F-35A fighters to check for potentially faulty parts in the type’s Martin-Baker ejection seats. The move followed by a day the service's grounding of nearly half its T-38 supersonic trainers and about a sixth of its T-6A primary trainers for ...
The Czech Republic plans to buy 24 F-35As, which would make it the 16th nation to either buy the fighter or announce the intent to do so and the 10th member or soon-to-be member of NATO to select the jet. The aircraft will replace 14 ...
Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael J. Schmidt took command of the F-35 Joint Program Office on July 5, succeeding Air Force Lt. Gen. Eric Fick, who is retiring. The succession of an Air Force PEO by another—breaking more than 25 years of back-and-forth joint leadership—may ...
The U.S. comptroller general, who oversees the Government Accountability Office, will assess sustainment challenges of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and report back to Congress by March 2023 under a House Armed Services subcommittee markup of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. The readiness ...
“We built into this ’23 budget the best information that we had at the time we built the budget,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks told reporters in March. “As in any year, we’re going to be working that as we get closer to the ...
