Pentagon withholding $5 million per tail as Lockheed delivers incomplete F-35s

By Vanessa Montalbano / August 29, 2024 at 1:38 PM
(Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include a quote from a Lockheed Martin spokeswoman.) The Defense Department is withholding about $5 million for each F-35 Joint Strike Fighter delivered with a truncated version of the Technology Refresh-3 software upgrade, a spokesperson with the F-35 Joint Program Office told Inside Defense. “We have coordinated the terms and conditions with Lockheed Martin,” the JPO spokesperson said Thursday. “As a portion of the agreement, approximately $5 million per aircraft...

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