A USMC F-35C Lightning II lands onboard USS Abraham Lincoln. (Photo: USMC)
Lockheed Martin has told Shephard it is currently determining how many F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters will be produced in 2022, following a company announcement that it produced 142 of the aircraft in 2021.
The 2021 figure bettered a target of 139 jets the manufacturer had set itself, in a timely boost for production after a relatively disappointing 2020 that saw COVID-19 complications lead to 120 aircraft deliveries - some way short of an original company target of 141 units.
‘We are determining the 2022 delivery target at this time and will share when decided,’ said a Lockheed Martin
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The fast-tracked emergency approvals come as the conflict in the Middle East stretches out into its third month, after Iranian attacks depleted US allies’ missile stockpiles and testing air defence systems.
As militaries face an overwhelming flow of data, the challenge is shifting from collection to delivering fast, actionable insights that drive decision-making. Advances in AI and data integration are helping armed forces move beyond siloed systems to generate real-time intelligence across domains and allies.
SAHA 2026 brings global defence and aerospace leaders to Istanbul for partnerships, launches, panels and high-value meetings.
In a partnership with Emesent, Teledyne FLIR will equip its autonomous air, ground and detection systems with the Hovermap LiDAR payload in a move that highlights a broader market shift towards modular architectures, shared payloads and interoperability across platforms.
The Pentagon’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year includes an impressive increase in the procurement of interceptors, with the number of the US Army’s PAC-3 MSE rounds expanding by 683%, the US Navy’s Standard Missile by 365% and the MDA’s SM-3 IIA by more than 1,000%.
Global Military Products was selected by the US Army to operate the Quad Cities Cartridge Case Facility and ramp up the production of various calibre shell cases.
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