Pentagon’s No.1 weapons supplier gets $2.35 billion contracts in final days of 2019

Pentagon’s No.1 weapons supplier Lockheed Martin Corp closed out the calendar year with five new contracts worth $2.35 billion.

Lockheed Martin, one of the largest companies in the aerospace, defense, security, and technologies industry, has received five new contracts and contract modifications for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program in final days of 2019.

The US defense contractor was awarded contracts that procure long-lead materials, parts components and effort for the production of 28 lot 15 F-35 aircraft for the Navy and Marine Corps ($172 million) and for the integration of the Next Generation Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System into all variants of the F-35 aircraft in support of the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants ($98.9 million).

The Pentagon also awarded an $81.97 million modification to a previously awarded contract for software development for the F-35 Lightning II in support of the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and non-Department of Defense participants.

According to the UPI.com, the largest contract on the DoD’s list, for $1.93 billion, funds recurring logistics services — including ground maintenance and supply chain management — for F-35 Air Systems in the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and foreign military sales customers.

This contract combines purchase for the Air Force ($392,321,076; 38%), Marine Corps ($191,048,520; 19%), Navy ($87,653,188; 9%), non-DoD participants ($231,962,860; 23%) and FMS customers ($111,352,368; 11%).

Early, Lockheed Martin has announced that it delivered the 134th F-35 aircraft for the year, exceeding the joint government and industry 2019 delivery goal of 131 aircraft.

One hundred and thirty-four deliveries represent a 47% increase from 2018 and nearly a 200 percent production increase from 2016. Next year, Lockheed Martin plans to deliver 141 F-35s and is prepared to increase production volume year-over-year to hit peak production in 2023.