The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin are negotiating a potential 10-year, multi-billion-dollar deal covering both production and sustainment for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Backed by the Trump administration's push for long-term weapons contracts, the deal aims to stabilize the industrial base and address low readiness rates through bulk spare parts purchasing. However, the proposal faces hurdles, including congressional requirements to prove at least 5 percent cost savings and verify readiness improvements.
Negotiations for a multi-year F-35 deal
- ▪Proponents of multi-year agreements argue that bulk buys of spare parts would provide industry predictability, leverage economies of scale, and help raise the F-35's readiness rates.
- ▪The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin are in negotiations over a multi-year F-35 Joint Strike Fighter deal that could span up to a decade and cover both production and maintenance.
- ▪The Trump administration is seeking to expand the use of long-term agreements to purchase key weapons, which has driven the latest push for an F-35 multi-year procurement contract.
- ▪Matt Milas, president of Honeywell Aerospace's defense division, stated in September 2026 that a potential 10-year F-35 agreement would include bulk buys of spare parts starting around the 21st production lot.
Lockheed Martin's sustainment proposals
- ▪Lockheed Martin previously proposed a five-year performance-based logistics contract for F-35 sustainment, which would pay the contractor based on outcomes like equipment availability or readiness rates.
- ▪Dina Halvorsen, Lockheed Martin's vice president of F-35 global sustainment, stated on September 14, 2026, that the company is advocating for a multi-year sustainment agreement, though she did not explicitly call it a performance-based logistics contract.
Performance-based logistics efforts
- ▪Lockheed Martin officials were previously confident that a performance-based logistics agreement for the F-35 would be reached by the end of 2023.
- ▪Lawmakers require the Pentagon to certify that any performance-based logistics agreement for the F-35 would either reduce maintenance costs or increase readiness, a hurdle officials have previously failed to clear.
Defense authorization bill provisions
- ▪The fiscal 2027 defense authorization bill versions from the Senate Armed Services Committee and House permit Pentagon multi-year F-35 procurement, but the House bars it until the defense secretary certifies initial spare parts and 5 percent cost savings.
- ▪Neither version of the fiscal 2027 defense authorization bill explicitly mentions or authorizes a multi-year sustainment agreement for the F-35.
F-35 readiness and sustainment challenges
- ▪Sustainment accounts for a vast portion of the F-35 program's estimated lifecycle cost, which is projected to last until the 2080s and is valued at nearly $2 trillion.
- ▪The F-35 program's readiness has been hampered by a lack of depot capacity, shortages of spare parts, and insufficient military access to the jet's technical data.
- ▪Over 1,000 F-35 aircraft have been delivered, but many newly delivered jets have been held for training over the last two years as officials work to clear a new combat upgrade.
Debatable claims
- ▪Bulk purchasing of spare parts is the most effective way to raise F-35 readiness
- ▪The Pentagon should sign a multi-year procurement contract for the F-35
- ▪Performance-based logistics contracts are ineffective for F-35 sustainment
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