Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $622,360,584 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide program management, non-recurring unique requirements, and training in support of integration efforts for the government of Germany into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program as a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customer. The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. In 2022, German government announced a deal to buy 35 F-35 fighter jets from the United States, a package pegged at $8.4 billion by the Pentagon in its offer from the summer. Signature of the letter of acceptance caps Berlin’s years-long quest to replace the portion of its aging Tornado fleet tasked with carrying out NATO’s doctrine of nuclear weapons sharing. Training of German pilots with the first new planes is slated to begin in 2026 in the United States. Work is expected to be completed in December 2027. Those activities are scheduled to move to Germany the following year, before the Luftwaffe, Germany’s air force, declares an initial operational capability in 2028.
The Government of Germany has requested to buy 35 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) aircraft; 37 Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines; 105 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM); 4 AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM Guidance Sections; 75 AGM-158B/B2 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles-Extended Range (JASSM-ER); 2 AGM-158 Inert JASSMs; 2 AGM-158 JASSM Separation Test Vehicles (STV); 344 GBU-53 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB-II); 3 GBU-53 SDB-II Guided Test Vehicles (GTV); 8 GBU-53 SDB-II Captive Carry Reliability Trainers (CCRT); 162 BLU-109 2000LB Hardened Penetrator Bombs for GBU-31; 264 MK-82 500LB General Purpose (GP) Bombs for GBU-54; 6 MK-82 Inert Filled GP Bombs; 30 BLU-109 Inert 2000LB Hardened Penetrator Bombs; 180 KMU-557 Joint Direct-Attack Munition (JDAM) Tail Kits for GBU-31; 246 KMU-572 JDAM Tail Kits for GBU-54; 75 AIM-9X Block II+ Tactical Sidewinder Missiles; 30 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); 15 Tactical AIM-9X Block II+ Sidewinder Guidance Control Units; and 5 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder CATM Guidance Units.
The power of the F-35 program stems from multi-tiered, strategic partnerships with industry. The F-35 program builds on these partnerships by investing in the German economy. Lockheed Martin is actively exploring opportunities to develop an industrial participation program that will enable partnerships across the German industry and create jobs in 5th Generation fighter aircraft manufacturing, sustainment, training, research, and development. German industrial partnership will increase the already significant role European industry plays in the F-35 program. Today, more than 25% of all F-35 components are built in Europe by Europeans. As the most modern 5th Generation fighter aircraft, the F-35 is designed to counter and deter advancing threats from the air, land, and sea. Today, there are approximately 120 F-35s in Europe across six countries. By the 2030s, Lockheed Martin expect over 600 F-35s will work together from more than 10 European countries, including two full U.S. F-35 squadrons at RAF Lakenheath.
