The Pentagon’s fiscal 2027 budget requests only 38 F-35As for the U.S. Air Force out of 85 total F-35s, prompting analysts to warn the number is insufficient to reverse the service’s deepening fighter inventory shortfall amid competing modernization priorities.
F-35
The Pentagon has awarded Pratt & Whitney a $6.6 billion contract to supply F135 engines for upcoming F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program production batches.
Iran claims it shot down a second U.S. F-35 stealth fighter jet over central Iran amid Operation Epic Fury, with pilot survival unlikely.
Switzerland is weighing the cancellation of its Patriot air defense order after US delivery delays stretched to five years.
The United Kingdom has completed the delivery of its initial fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter jets, marking a key milestone in its fifth-generation airpower program.
A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighter assigned to Nellis Air Force Base (LSV) crashed within the Nevada Test and Training Range on March 31, 2026.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force began joint operations on March 23 at Misawa Air Base in Japan alongside U.S. and Japanese forces, marking its first exercise in the country.
The US Air Force (USAF) has begun replacing F-16CM aircraft with Lockheed Martin F-35A jets to modernize its “wild weasel” mission in northern Japan.
Norway plans $11.8B defense boost for F-35 missiles, Type 26 frigates, and Type 212CD submarines to meet NATO’s 3.5% GDP target by 2035.
The United States is rapidly repositioning naval aviation assets toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran intersect with renewed diplomatic engagement.