Lockheed Martin has floated a number of proposals to improve the F-35 fighter as sixth-generation options emerge—however in the intervening time, it has its palms full manufacturing the prevailing ones!
As a part of President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27)—marking the primary trillion-dollar funds within the Pentagon’s historical past—the Department of Defense has requested 85 fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighters. A complete of 32 of the stealth fighters could be funded by way of the bottom funds, with a further 53 to be acquired by way of a proposed $350 billion within the reconciliation invoice. For comparability’s sake, the FY26 funds requested solely 47 of the plane, making the proposed FY27 acquisition slightly below twice as giant.
Eighty-five new F-35s in a single 12 months is an astonishing quantity—even inside a funds stuffed with beneficiant contracts for the protection trade, together with a proposed “Golden Fleet” for the United States Navy and the “Golden Dome” missile system meant to blanket the whole nation. Even so, some specialists have warned that the Air Force may wish much more of the plane subsequent 12 months, given the airframe’s rising age and the truth that at the least 5 of the planes have been misplaced or considerably broken within the ongoing Operation Epic Fury in opposition to Iran.
Regardless of the ultimate variety of F-35s secured within the upcoming funds, the elevated curiosity is definite to be a significant boost for Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest protection contractor—significantly because it weighs the right way to hold the fifth-generation stealth fighter on the slicing fringe of US capabilities within the years forward, because the United States and its adversaries start to undertake superior sixth-generation platforms as properly.
The F-35 Lightning II’s Specifications
- Year Introduced: 2015 (F-35B)
- Number Built: ~1,300 (all variants)
- Length: 51.4 ft (15.67 m)
- Wingspan: 35 ft (10.67 m)
- Weight (MTOW): 70,000 lbs (31,750 kg)
- Engines: One Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 afterburning turbofan (40,000 lbf thrust)
- Top Speed: ~1,200 mph (1,930 km/h) / Mach 1.6
- Range: 1,350+ mi (2,170 km) with inside gasoline
- Service Ceiling: 50,000+ ft (15,240 m)
- Loadout: Internal 25 mm GAU-22/A cannon, two AIM-120 AMRAAMs, and two GBU-31 JDAMs (in a versatile air and floor operations loadout setting)
- Aircrew: 1
Lockheed Martin Lost Both Sixth-Gen Fighter Contests Last Year
The enhance in funding for the F-35 comes at a welcome time for Lockheed Martin, given its high-profile failure to safe a contract for both of the Pentagon’s sixth-generation fighter packages in 2025.
Just over a 12 months in the past, the US Air Force introduced that aerospace large Boeing had won the design competition for the F-47 program, beating out Lockheed Martin’s entry. This sixth-generation manned fighter will probably be the centerpiece of the Next Generation Air Domination (NGAD) program, which has been described as a system-of-systems strategy that can embrace unmanned plane supporting the manned fighter and enhanced community connectivity.
Only days after the lack of the F-47 contract, the Navy indicated that Lockheed Martin was additionally out of the operating for its F/A-XX program, which requires the event of a manned sixth-generation carrier-based multirole fighter separate from the F-47. Boeing and Northrop Grumman are actually competing for that contract; a winner has not but been chosen.
What Comes After the F-35? A Better F-35, Probably
Last 12 months, Lockheed Martin responded to dropping the F-47 contract by proposing a extra superior variant of the F-35. The new plane, dubbed the “F-55,” appeared to win favor on the time with President Donald Trump, who known as on Lockheed Martin to design a twin-engine model. However, aviation specialists have dismissed the notion that such an aircraft could possibly be constructed.
A extra modest objective additionally proposed by Lockheed Martin could be a so-called “Ferrari” version of the F-35, which could possibly be outfitted with sixth-generation know-how developed by Lockheed Martin for its NGAD prototype. That may embrace passive infrared, improved stealth, and long-range weapons. The ensuing fighter jet would most likely be analogous to the F-15EX Eagle II fighter jet, which mixes the fuselage of a fourth-generation F-15 Eagle with cutting-edge electronics, creating a “fourth-gen-plus” or “4.5-gen” plane.
It is unclear, nevertheless, at what stage the “Ferrari” F-35 is at current, or whether or not it’s going to even transfer past the prototype stage. Much of the proposed know-how so as to add to the following F-35 continues to be in improvement.
In the meantime, Lockheed Martin has fairly the duty forward—absorbing the large new funding within the present F-35 program, and seeing its manufacturing traces roll out extra of the fifth-gen jets for the US army and international patrons.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and web sites over a 30-year profession in journalism. He repeatedly writes about army {hardware}, firearms historical past, cybersecurity, politics, and worldwide affairs. Peter can be a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is predicated in Michigan. You can comply with him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can e-mail the writer: [email protected].
