Pentagon announces 10-year F-35 deal without disclosing a price

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(The Center Square) – The Department of War announced a 10-year deal Thursday to purchase at least 850 F-35 fighter jets without disclosing a price.

Congressional analysts estimate the first 425 will cost $61.4 billion.

Neither the department nor Lockheed Martin released a value for the framework agreement, which covers at least 850 U.S. aircraft over production Lots 21 through 30, initial spare parts, 10 years of modification kits and sustainment of the global F-35 fleet. Both said the deal depends on congressional authorization and appropriations that have not yet happened.

Lockheed Martin said the deal establishes a framework for negotiating production and sustainment over a longer planning horizon, and is not the final procurement contract. Prices, schedules and performance requirements have yet to be set, the company said.

The Senate Armed Services Committee's version of the fiscal 2027 defense authorization bill would let the department enter multiyear F-35 contracts.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated Sept. 28 that the department plans to buy 425 F-35s from fiscal 2027 through 2031 at a cost of $61.4 billion, or about 85 aircraft a year, the same annual rate as the 850-jet floor announced Thursday.

Under federal law, a multiyear procurement contract costing more than $500 million must be specifically authorized in both an authorization act and an appropriations act.

The department said Lockheed Martin will self-fund at least $7 billion in initiatives supporting the F-35 program over the 10-year term in exchange for the commitment.

The Government Accountability Office reported in June that the F-35 Joint Program Office is relying on the private sector to deliver more than $7 billion in additional parts and other material through fiscal 2031 under a sustainment overhaul, and that capacity constraints persist for key parts.

Neither the department nor the company said whether those are the same funds.

Lockheed Martin's release said the framework continues a production rate of 156 aircraft per year, a rate that includes aircraft built for international customers. GAO reported in September 2025 that 156 is the program's maximum capacity, that the contractor had not been able to meet a lower demand of 153, and that it delivered 110 aircraft in 2024, all of them late by an average of 238 days, up from 61 days the year before. GAO recommended the department evaluate Lockheed Martin's capacity before setting purchase quantities. The department concurred but identified no new actions.

Under Secretary of War Michael P. Duffey said in a statement the framework works "by aligning financial incentives with actual performance."

GAO found in September 2025 that the program's fee structure let the company earn a portion of on-time delivery fees on aircraft delivered up to 60 days late. When it became clear the company would not earn most of those fees on later lots, the program twice redirected more than $100 million of them to other work rather than withholding them. Withholding the fee "would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars," GAO wrote.

Lockheed Martin said the framework will improve fleet readiness.

GAO reported in June that the share of time F-35s could perform at least one assigned mission fell from 67% in fiscal 2021 to 44% in fiscal 2025, and that the full mission capable rate fell from 38% to 25%.

GAO estimated lifetime sustainment costs for U.S. aircraft at $1.6 trillion as of 2024. By the mid-2030s, the services will face a gap of more than $1 billion a year between projected F-35 sustainment costs and their own affordability targets, GAO found.

Lockheed Martin declined to answer questions about the framework's value, the $7 billion commitment or its incentive terms, pointing to its news release.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, whose members build the aircraft in Fort Worth, Texas, and the engines at Pratt & Whitney facilities, urged Congress to authorize the arrangement. The union said program estimates show a 10-year deal would save taxpayers $9 billion to $10 billion over the decade, though it said final prices must still be negotiated.

The Department of War acknowledged questions but did not answer them by deadline. The F-35 Joint Program Office and the Senate Armed Services Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.