The US aerospace giant, Lockheed Martin, is in for a big shock, as reports state that the Pentagon has halved its procurement request to Congress for the US Air Force’s (USAF) F-35 Lightning II stealth aircraft.
The procurement request sent to Capitol Hill by the Department of Defense (DoD) has pegged the number of F-35As to be procured by the USAF at 24, down from 48 previously anticipated, as reported by Bloomberg. The cut is significant because the USAF is the largest operator of the F-35 in the world.
The USAF is reportedly seeking $3.5 billion for the F-35 fighter and an additional $531 million for the advanced acquisition of its supplies. Meanwhile, the Pentagon intends to request $1.95 billion to purchase 12 of the Navy’s carrier variant of the F-35 and $401.5 million for advance procurement, and the Marines would ask for $1.78 billion for 11 jets.
The EurAsian Times could not independently verify these claims, and Lockheed Martin is yet to acknowledge the alleged reduction in F-35 purchases at the time of writing this report.
The USAF is the largest F-35 Lightning II operator of all the international forces. However, in recent times, its acquisition has come under criticism, particularly by former DOGE chief Elon Musk, who said that the aircraft is “expensive and complex,” and fast becoming “obsolete” in the age of drone warfare.
Last month, Lockheed said it was expecting to secure a finalized contract for its F-35 fighter jets sooner than previously projected. “The fighter jets in lot 19 could potentially be awarded sooner than the second half of this year, which was the company’s earlier timeline,” said Evan Scott, the Chief Financial Officer of Lockheed Martin.
The F-35 contract had previously been beset by delays related to the TR3 technology upgrades, which have impacted deliveries since summer 2023 due to software and integration issues. The contractor delivered approximately 110 F-35 fighter jets to the US and its allies in 2024 and has been hopeful of receiving more promising orders.
In December 2024, an existing deal was updated to include an additional $11.8 billion worth of F-35s as part of Lot 18. The award included 48 F-35As for the Air Force, 16 F-35Bs and five F-35Cs for the Marine Corps, and 14 F-35Cs for the Navy. At the time, the JPO stated that due to a shortage of funds, it intended to complete Lot 18 first before Lot 19.
The reduction in F-35 orders could come as a setback to Lockheed, which recently lost the F-47 sixth-generation fighter contract to Boeing, and has been making concerted efforts at a “comeback” with an upgraded “fifth-generation plus” version of the iconic stealth fighter.
Notably, the F-35 program accounts for about 30% of the company’s revenue.
The Bloomberg report states that the decision to scale back the F-35A purchase could be the USAF’s attempt at adjusting its fiscal 2026 funding to meet Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s goal of cutting US military spending by 8% over the next five years.
The F-35 is the most expensive fighter program in the world. The Lot 15 to 17 cost about $82.5 million per unit for the Air Force F-35A version, with the B and C variants costing even more. Additionally, sustainment costs have risen 44% from $1.1 trillion in 2018 to $1.58 trillion in 2023.
Moreover, the F-35 is plagued with several problems that could potentially hinder its procurement. One of the major problems associated with the aircraft is its abysmally low mission-capable rates.
According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review published earlier this year, the F-35A’s mission-capable rate was an abysmal 51.5% in 2025, far below the 75–80% target, due to spare parts shortages and maintenance challenges. An aircraft is classified as ‘mission capable’ if it can perform at least one of its designated roles. For instance, an F-35A—designed for air superiority, electronic warfare, ground attack, and intelligence gathering—is counted as mission-capable if it can execute any one of these tasks.
Nonetheless, the reduction could lead to a potential clash with Congress, which has previously added jets back to the budget when the services requested fewer jets. Lockheed Martin, for one, has many backers in Congress who may request an increase in the purchase, arguing that the F-35 is crucial for maintaining air superiority amid the looming threat from China.
The Pentagon likely wants to direct its energy to other valuable programs. Some other combat aircraft, like the F-15EX and the B-21 Raider, may also emerge as winners.
USAF Is Spending On Other Assets
The USAF is seeking $24.8 billion for aircraft procurement in FY26, of which $7.1 billion will come from reconciliation spending, according to the latest Breaking Defense report.
According to the report, the Pentagon plans to request approximately $205 billion in procurement funds for FY2026, which is about 18% higher than the amount approved for FY2025. However, almost $51 billion, or nearly 25% of that sum, depends on whether President Donald Trump’s contentious megabill is passed in Congress.
If passed, this would, for the first time in US history, push the total defense spending bill in FY 2025 beyond USD 1 trillion, as the US Congress has already approved a USD 886 billion defense budget for this fiscal year, as previously explained in-depth by the EurAsian Times.
The Reconciliation funding was earlier intended as a supplemental increase for the Pentagon. However, the Trump administration wants to use it to offset the cuts made in the base budget proposed.
The Trump administration would spend $4.7 billion for Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Raider, including $2.1 billion from reconciliation funds.
The budget proposes $2.5 billion for 21 F-15EXs, about $362.1 million to acquire 14 of the T-7A trainers, and $2.8 billion to acquire 15 Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tankers. Additionally, the USAF plans to spend $387.1 million to acquire the hypersonic Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), although it does not specify the quantity.
In addition, the military would spend $6.2 billion on missiles, drawing $1.9 billion from reconciliation, and $784 million on ammunition, all of which would come from the Air Force’s basic budget.
According to reports, the Pentagon has submitted two distinct spending proposals—one with reconciliation and one without—to the House Appropriations Committee. This may be the first time this is happening at Capitol Hill, and likely hints that the procurement request made may not be the final one.
For now, we await the full disclosure by the US DoD and the Congress.
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