Article Posted on : - Apr 15, 2012

WASHINGTON (BNS): The US Defence Department has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth $259 million to supply two more F-35 stealth fighter jets to the US military.

The contract, awarded on April 13, is part of the low rate initial production Lot 5 contract under which Lockheed was to supply 30 F-35 jets initially.

The low rate initial production Lot 5 contract, worth $4.01 billion awarded in December 2011, had made provision for 21 Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for the US Air Force, 6 carrier variants for the Navy and 3 Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant for the Marine Corps.

Under the new deal, Lockheed will deliver one additional conventional take-off and landing aircraft for the Air Force, and one additional carrier variant aircraft for the Navy, the US Department of Defence said.

The contract is expected to be completed in February 2014, it said.