This week in The Bunker: Military-industrial coziness is never a good thing; the F-35 has opted to keep its own lousy nervous system instead of getting a transplant; tracking the U.S. bucks bound for Ukrainian; and more.
By Greg Waldron2020-12-30T03:18:00+00:00
Lockheed Martin delivered 123 F-35s in 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic reducing output of the stealthy type.
The 123 deliveries comprised 74 examples delivered to the US military, 31 to international partner nations, and 18 to Foreign Military Sales customers. The 123rd aircraft was an F-35A delivered from the Final Assembly and Checkout facility in Cameri, Italy.
Source: US Air Force
A US Air Force F-35A taking off from an air base in Spain
Earlier in December, Lockheed had said that it was likely to only hit 121 deliveries in the year.
2020’s deliveries, however, fell short of the 134 examples transferred in 2019. Lockheed notes that owing to supplier delays related to disruption wrought by Covid-19, it had to revise its original delivery goal for the year downwards from the 141 originally planned, aiming to deliver 117-123 aircraft.