WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st December, 2019) The F-35 production program exceeded its targets for this year, increasing the numbers of aircraft produced by almost half compared with 2018, Lockheed Martin said in a press release on Monday.
"Lockheed Martin delivered the 134th F-35 aircraft for the year today, exceeding the joint government and industry 2019 delivery goal of 131 aircraft... a 47 percent increase from 2018 and nearly a 200 percent production increase from 2016," the release said.
Next year, Lockheed Martin plans to deliver 141 F-35s and is prepared to increase production volume year-over-year to hit peak production in 2023, the release added.
In 2019, deliveries included 81 F-35 jets for the United States, 30 for international partner nations and 23 for Foreign Military Sales customers, Lockheed Martin said.
The F-35 program is projected to cost $1.5 trillion - the most expensive aircraft of all time.
Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that more than 25 percent of the F-35 jets already delivered to the US armed forces were not fully mission capable, owing to spare parts shortages, breakdowns and other problems. Lockheed Martin has promised to fix these problems,
