Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has received a $3.5 billion contract modification from the U.S. Department of Defense to manufacture 31 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters in the fourth lot of low-rate initial production (LRIP). The contract also funds manufacturing-support equipment, flight test instrumentation and ancillary mission equipment. Including the long-lead funding previously received, the total contract value for LRIP 4 is $3.9 billion. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will produce 10 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variants for the ... Read more

Categories: News Release

Last week, the first formation flight of two Lockheed Martin F-35B STOVL variant aircraft was completed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The 1.4 hour test flight was conducted at both 20,000 feet and 30,000 feet. The flight was the first to evaluate close-proximity handling qualities of the F-35B. (Lockheed Martin photo by Andy Wolfe) Read more

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The fundamental building block for all future avionics software on the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter has entered flight testing on an F-35 test jet. “Block 1,” the first of three principal software-development blocks for the F-35’s mission systems, made its inaugural flight on Nov. 5 in the F-35B short takeoff/ vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft known as BF-4. The functional check flight from Naval Air Station Patuxent River lasted 1.5 hours, and all planned ... Read more

Categories: News Release