Lockheed Martin Wins $244 Million Spares Contract For US Navy's F-35

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics has won a nearly quarter of a billion dollar US Navy order to buy air vehicle spares for the F-35 Lightning II for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and foreign military sales.

"Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company of Fort Worth, Texas is being awarded a $244.3 million… order… for the procurement of initial air vehicle spares in support of the F-35 Lightning II for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and foreign military sales," the US DOD announced Thursday.

Work on the contract will be performed at various locations in the United States, and in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Netherlands, the Defense Department said.

A drastic uptick in the number of F-35As acquired by the USAF in 2018 could drive program costs even higher on the estimated trillion-dollar-plus program, Defense News reported in February.

Lockheed Martin has already lagged in furnishing the Pentagon with its pricey jets.