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Pentagon awards Lockheed Martin $177.5M for three F-35 flight-science/test aircraft

The Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin a $177.5 million contract to build three new F-35 fighter jets in a flight-test configuration, covering one aircraft in each F-35 variant. The aircraft will be delivered for “flight science” and test work supporting upgrade efforts across the family.

Discovered 2026-04-27T23:24:48.073080-07:00 | 2026-04-27T23:24:48.073080-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

The award funds new, variant-spanning F-35 test aircraft in support of upgrade development, directly affecting how quickly and rigorously the program can validate changes before wider fleet adoption.
For readiness and planning, test capacity is a leading indicator of upgrade throughput—especially as the Pentagon continues to scrutinize F-35 software development and delivery processes (see Pentagon weapons tester raises major concerns about F-35 software development process).
It also comes amid ongoing F-35 safety and operational activity, including a recent USAF F-35A crash during training (see USAF F-35A crashes during Nellis training; pilot ejects safely).

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