Lockheed Martin closed 2025 with a record number of 191 F-35 deliveries across all three variants. The figure eclipses the airframer’s previous high mark in 2021 by nearly 50 units. Over the past year, company officials consistently projected a target of 170-190 delivered aircraft for 2025.
In a related press release, Lockheed claimed yearly F-35 production is “running at a pace five times faster than any other allied fighter currently in production.” For the past few years, annual production has hovered around 156 fighters, but delays due to a necessary software and hardware upgrade caused the Pentagon to stop accepting aircraft in July 2023.
The delivery pause led to a backlog of parked aircraft that accumulated at Lockheed’s facilities until the Pentagon resumed accepting truncated, non-fully combat-capable F-35s a year later. In May 2025, Lockheed reportedly delivered the last backlogged aircraft.
The impact of Technical Refresh 3 (TR-3) delays and the subsequent delivery pause, in part, led to a drop in deliveries in 2023 and 2024, 98 and 110 units, respectively. Notably, the 2025 record builds on an unspecified number of aircraft that were previously manufactured and parked during 2024.
Following a turbulent year for the F-35 program, which included heightened criticism and a government report that found widespread program underperformance, the delivery record nonetheless provides a sorely needed balm for Lockheed heading into 2026.
A former naval officer and Seahawk helicopter pilot, Jon currently leads the Military Aerospace and Weapons Systems group at Forecast International. He specializes in current and emerging military fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. With over a decade of experience in military aviation, operations, and education, he forecasts a diverse range of defense and naval systems.
Influenced by his time as a former Presidential Management Fellow and International Trade Specialist at the Department of Commerce, Jon gained insights into government operations and global markets.
Before joining Forecast International, he served as an NROTC instructor and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Texas, teaching undergraduate courses in naval history, navigation, defense organization, and naval operations and warfare.
