Defense giant Lockheed Martin trimmed its delivery outlook for F-35 stealth fighters as it works through delays related to a technology upgrade.
Lockheed Martin said in a regulatory filing that it now expects to deliver 97 jets in 2023, down from the previous forecast of between 100 and 120 jets. The company expected to deliver the first F-35 with the Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) upgrade in 2023, but it now expects the first upgraded jets will be delivered between April and June 2024.
"As a result, we now expect to deliver 97 aircraft in 2023 (all in the TR-2 configuration), which we do not currently anticipate will impact our 2023 financial outlook," the company said in the filing.
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Lockheed’s stock dipped on the news Wednesday and was down about 4.5% during mid-afternoon trading.
The F-35 is Lockheed Martin’s largest program, having generated 27% of its total consolidated net sales and 66% of aeronautics’ net sales in 2022.
Demand has risen over the last two years amid an influx of orders as U.S. allies ramp up defense spending and look to acquire the F-35 for their militaries amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s military build-up.
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Lockheed Martin is currently producing F-35 jets, known as the Lightning II, at a rate of about 156 per year – a pace it expects to continue as it finalizes TR-3 software development and testing.
The company said in the filing that the number of deliveries it will make in 2024 "will depend on when the first TR-3 aircraft is delivered and the time needed to complete the customer’s acceptance process."
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The U.S. military is the largest operator of the F-35, with variants in use by the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy.
Other countries that currently operate or have ordered F-35 jets include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Reuters contributed to this report.
