Navy awards Lockheed Martin $4.7 billion contract modification for F-35

The Navy this week announced a $4.7 billion contract modification to Lockheed Martin for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

According to the contract announcement, the modification is to purchase a total of 78 jets, including 48 F-35As for the Air Force. The award also includes 16 carrier variants for the Navy, 14 F-35Bs for the Marine Corps and "associated aircraft red gear."

The Navy anticipates Lockheed finishing the work by March 2023.

The Air Force will initially commit $2.7 billion from its fiscal year 2020 aircraft procurement account, while the Navy will initially commit $1.99 billion from its FY-20 aircraft procurement account.

The Pentagon last year finalized a $34 billion deal with Lockheed Martin to purchase 478 aircraft for Lots 12 through 14 of the program's low-rate initial production phase.