Lockheed Martin delivered fewer F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft to domestic and international customers than planned in 2020, with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic affecting supplies to its production plants.
Having set itself a target of 141 F-35 deliveries for 2020, Lockheed Martin closed out the year on 120 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Crown Copyright)
Having set itself the goal at the beginning of the year to deliver 141 aircraft to customers, the company announced on 28 December 2020 that its final tally for the year would be 123 aircraft instead.
However, in line with the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) report released in late January, the actual figure was 120. In response to an Aviation Week enquiry on the discrepancy between the 123 figure first announced and the 120 figure revealed in the SEC report, Lockheed Martin noted that the outstanding three aircraft had been double counted from the 2019 deliveries.
“In response to Covid-19-related supplier delays, in May [2020] the initial annual delivery goal was revised from 141 to 117–123 aircraft to strategically avoid surging, which would increase production-related costs and create future delays and disruption,” the company said in its initial announcement. “Lockheed Martin took proactive measures to mitigate Covid-19 supplier impacts and position the programme for the fastest possible recovery by adjusting employee work schedules, maintaining specialised employee skillsets, and providing accelerated payments to small and vulnerable suppliers. Lockheed Martin provided accelerated payments to more than 400 F-35 suppliers in 45 states and Puerto Rico. Though Covid-19 will have short-term impacts on production, the F-35 programme continues to work diligently and is on track to meet the joint government and industry recovery commitments over the coming years.”
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