Lockheed Martin says it has delivered the 66th F-35 Lightning II aircraft for 2017, thereby meeting its delivery target for this year.
To date, more than 265 of the fighters have been delivered to US and international customers, the company stated, and the F-35 fleet had surpassed 115,000 cumulative flight hours.
Deliveries in 2017 increased by more than 40 per cent compared with 2016, and production volume was expected to reach about 160 aircraft in 2023.
“Meeting our 2017 delivery commitment is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our joint government and industry team to deliver the transformational F-35 air system to the warfighter,” said Lockheed Martin executive vice-president and F-35 program general manager Jeff Babione.
“The team continues to overcome program challenges, and achieving this milestone gives our customers confidence that the F-35 enterprise can deliver on the increasing production quantities year over year.”
Australia’s third F-35A is due to be delivered to Luke Air Force Base in early 2018.
