<p >The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) has confirmed that funding to produce the next two batches of the fifth generation fighter aircraft, Lot 18 and Lot 19, has been delayed, after having originally been scheduled to be finalised before the end of June. Uncertainty remains regarding the total number of fighters that will be produced under the next batches and their costs, which have in recent years steadily increased due to a combination of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/f35-jet-fighter-tariffs-2b807ad3" target="_blank">factors</a>. The Lot 18 contract is reportedly set to cover the production of 145 F-35s including 48 F-35As for the U.S. Air Force, 16 F-35Bs and five F-35Cs <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/marine-corps-cut-f35b-stealth-fighter-procurement" >for the Marine Corps</a>, and 14 F-35Cs for the Navy, with the remaining 62 aircraft being built for foreign militaries. Although the U.S. Air Force was initially expected to procure the F-35A at rates of 110 per year, this was gradually cut to 80, 60 and finally just 48 fighters, which has caused issues for the service’s fighter fleet as older fourth generation aircraft are phased out of service <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-withdrawing-f15-44yrs-china-doorstep" target="_blank">far more slowly</a> than previously expected. As the only fighter of its generation in production in the Western world, the F-35 program continues to be relied on very heavily not only by the U.S. Armed Forces, but also by <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/f35-europe-clients-production-dominance-market" >close to 20 other services</a> across the world, which is reflected by the fact that close to 45 percent of F-35s being produced expected to continue to be allocated to foreign clients.&nbsp;</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/08/article_6844db57796258_25402462.jpg" title="F-35 Production at Fort Worth, Texas"></p><p >Regarding the delays to reaching contract, an unnamed government official “revealed as the teams work through the final phases of pricing and terms and conditions, it is now clear that additional time will be needed to complete the necessary DOD [Department of Defence] and [Lockheed Martin] reviews.” Although the Joint Program Office stressed that delays to reaching a contract were not related to issues with the F-35’s new AN/APG-85 radar, this has remained a leading issue with the program. The F-35’s previous AN/APG-81 radar’s smaller size than the sensors fielded by <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-j20-fifth-generation-began-serial-production-10yrs">Chinese fifth generation fighters</a> such as the J-20, combined with the American radar’s age, led it to be seen as far from optimal for air superiority mission in the Pacific, for which F-35s are relied on very heavily. The AN/APG-85 operationalises a significant number of new technologies, the nature of which has not been disclosed, with the specific stated goal of better ensuring air superiority. The new radar is significantly larger than the AN/APG-81, and thus requires a new forward fuselage to be developed for future F-35s to accommodate it, which has been expected to cause delays. This is particularly complicated due to the need to ensure the redesign does not negatively impact the F-35’s radar cross section.&nbsp;</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/08/article_6844db7588ce28_17563537.png" title="Chinese J-XX Sixth Generation Fighter Prototype"></p><p >Pressure to modernise the F-35 has been steadily increased due to the rapid progress made by the Chinese J-20 fifth generation fighter program, both to <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/new-phase-single-crystal-blade-ws15" >enhance its performance </a>with the operationalisation of new variants, and with the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/how-many-j20-stealth-fighter-will-china-build-top-expert-predicts-over-1000" >expansion of its production scale</a>. To make the aircraft more competitive against new Chinese fighters, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet&nbsp;in lat May <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/lockheed-ceo-unmanned-f35-ops-upgrades" >pitched</a> a number of upgrades, and stated that an enhanced ‘5+ generation’ F-35 variant could be reshaped for superior stealth capabilities and integrate new radar absorbent coatings to narrow the capability gap with <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/worlds-largest-fighter-plane-china-ultra-long-range-sixth-gen" >new sixth generation fighters</a>. China’s&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-unveiled-stealthiest-fighter-sixth-generation" >unveiling</a>&nbsp;of two new sixth generation fighters&nbsp;in December 2024 already at flight prototype stages&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/chinese-sixth-generation-cut-pentagon-demand-f35s-lockheed" >raised serious questions</a>&nbsp;regarding the future viability of the F-35 in Pacific War scenarios. Despite the need to improve the fighter’s performance, the Pentagon in 2023 <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/new-powerplant-f35-review-needed" >terminated</a> one of the most ambitious programs intended to do so, namely the Adaptive Engine Transition Program which had been intended to provide a clean sheet new engine which would very significantly increase its range, thrust/weight ratio and the power available for onboard systems. As the Air Force and Navy face increasing shortages of funding for their respective F-47 and F/A-XX sixth generation fighter programs, the future of the F-35 remains highly uncertain.</p>
Skip to content
SurvivalThat is all