Last year, Lockheed Martin delivered a record 191 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets of all three variants.
The record number of stealth fighter jets delivered highlights the significant improvement of the F-35 production and delivery process after years of serious issues.
Delivery figures have varied widely over the past five years. In 2024, the defense and aerospace giant delivered 110 F-35s of all three variants. In 2023, it delivered 98 F-35s to the U.S. military and partner nations around the world. In 2022, the company delivered 141 F-35s, marking the second-best performance of all time until last year’s numbers. The previous delivery record took place in 2021 when it delivered 142 F-35s.
“I’m immensely proud of the F-35 enterprise for delivering on our production commitments, performing with excellence and growing our global partnerships in 2025,” Chauncey McIntosh, Vice President and General Manager of the F-35 Lightning II Program, said in a company press release.
“As our warfighters continue to employ the F-35 to protect the interests of America and our allies around the world, we’re committed to continuing to push the latest technology into the hands of the warfighter to defeat any threat,” the senior Lockheed Martin executive added.
Twelve countries are already operating the F-35, and almost 1,300 stealth fighter jets are in service around the world. The U.S. military alone has over 500 operational F-35s across the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
The F-35 is the most advanced fighter jet in the world. It can conduct several different mission sets, including Strategic Attack, Air Superiority, Close Air Support, Electronic Warfare, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD), and Destruction of Enemy Air Defense (DEAD).
During a recent visit to the company’s Fort Worth production facility, Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth thanked Lockheed Martin’s employees.
“Thank you for accepting and grasping the challenge of President Trump as well as our department. Thank you all so much for what you do, for why you’re doing it. We are shoulder to shoulder with you because we can’t deter the next conflict without the skills and capabilities you have,” Hegseth told them.
As of January 2026, 20 countries are participating in the F-35 Program: The U.S., the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Belgium, Poland, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Greece, and Romania.
The F-35 comes in three similar but distinct variants: The F-35A is the conventional take-off iteration of the aircraft. The F-35 is the Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing (STOVL) version that can take off and land like a helicopter but fly like a fighter jet. Finally, the F-35C is the carrier-based iteration designed to operate from aircraft carriers.
Feature Image: An F-35 assembly line at Lockheed Martin’s factory in Fort Worth, Texas, 2012. (Photo by Fred Clingerman/Marine Corps Air Station Yuma via Lockheed Martin)
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