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Members of the Lockheed Martin F-35 team form the number 45 in front of a jet in honour of the 45th delivery of an F-35 Lightning II in 2015 meeting the program’s production goal. The 45th jet was AF-84, a delivery for the U.S. Air Force. Beth Steel Photo
The United States Department of Defense accepted its 45th F-35 Lightning II aircraft delivery for 2015, meeting the program production goal for the year.
With this delivery, Lockheed Martin has delivered 154 operational aircraft to the DOD and partner nations since program inception.
“Meeting aircraft production goals is a critical stepping stone in demonstrating the program is ready for the expected significant production ramp up,” said LGen Chris Bogdan, F-35 program executive officer. “It took thousands of people around the world to achieve this milestone and they should all be proud of what they accomplished.”
The 45 F-35 deliveries include:
- Twenty-six F-35A – U.S. Air Force
- Two F-35A – Royal Norwegian Air Force (first two)
- One F-35A – Aeronautica Militare (first Italian Air Force)
- Eight F-35B – U.S. Marine Corps
- Eight F-35C – U.S. Navy / U.S. Marine Corps
The 45 F-35 Lightning II aircraft are assigned to the following installations:
- Seventeen – Luke Air Force Base, Glendale, Ariz. – including all international jets
- Eight – Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, S.C.
- Eight – Eglin Air Force Base, Valparaiso, Fla.
- Five – Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah
- Seven – Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nev.
“Delivering the most F-35s in program history is a clear demonstration of our growing maturity and stability,” said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin F-35 program general manager. “Congratulations to the entire government and industry team for their work to deliver 45 aircraft.”
The F-35 Lightning II, a fifth generation fighter, combines advanced low observable stealth technology with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries.
