Lockheed Completes F-35 Aircraft Deliveries for 2020

Lockheed Martin has shipped 123 F-35 aircraft in 2020, meeting its revised target number of at least 117 delivered jets amid the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding delays.

The company said Monday it delivered 74 units of the aircraft to the U.S. military, 18 to foreign military sales customers and 31 to international partners this year, with Italy's air force receiving the latest delivery, an F-35A conventional takeoff and landing aircraft.

Lockheed reduced its planned number of F-35 deliveries for 2020 from 141 to prevent pandemic-related surges that might affect future production and raise manufacturing costs. 

The revised plan covers measures to reduce the pandemic's impacts on suppliers involved in the F-35 program. It includes efforts to support over 400 suppliers in Puerto Rico.

F-35 also underwent integration with the Operational Data Integrated Network, an updated logistics management system for the aircraft, this year.

Lockheed has achieved mission-capable growth rates of over 70 percent for ODIN, and expects the system to gain full operational status by 2022.