USAF prioritises F-47 development as F-35 orders drop to 18 jets in 2028
罢丑别听听is currently planning to reduce the number of听听it plans to buy until 2028. Meanwhile, the first representative F-47 is expected to fly in 2028.
USAF to reduce F-35 buys until 2028
In mid-2025,听听reported plans to halve the number of F-35 purchases in 2026 and won鈥檛 resume full F-35 orders until Lockheed irons out its upgrade issues. Gen. Davil Allvin, old Defense One that the service will increase procurement again when it can by 鈥淔-35s that are most relevant for the fight.鈥
The USAF鈥檚 decisions are informed by听, and limited financial resources with competing priorities. The USAF鈥檚 program of record remains 1,763 F-35As.
The Air Force is also looking to spend more of its money on upgrading its existing fleets of fighter jets. It has to balance new procurements with maintaining and upgrading current jets, as well as the costs of developing new systems.
According to a new report submitted to Congress, the Air Force wants its purchases of F-35s to be 39 in 2027, 18 in 2028, 32 in 2029, and 29 in 2030. 罢丑别听听show it purchased 44 in 2025 and has received funds to purchase 24 in 2026. In 2024, the Air Force purchased 51 of the aircraft.
Meanwhile, the Marine Corps is planning to purchase 11 F-35s in 2026, down from the 13 originally planned, and it鈥檚 unclear what the Navy鈥檚 buy will be.
In September 2025,听听reported that the Pentagon鈥檚 Joint Program Office had finalised a deal for 296 F-35s, including 148 jets in Lots 18 and 19.
USAF rushing development of F-47
In March 2025,听of the next-generation fighter jet programme (NGAD) that includes Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
Locked in competition with China, the Air Force is prioritising the development of the F-47. There听听out of concerns it could delay the F-47. Although the Navy has secured FY 2026 funding for the program.
Construction of the first representative F-47 is underway, and USAF Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin has just confirmed the F-47 will conduct its prototype flight in 2028. Technology demonstrators first flew in 2020.
The Air Force plans to procure at least 185 of these jets, which will be designed from the ground up to operate with CCAs. They will form the tip-of-the-spear for air dominance missions and are intended to be the 鈥榮ilver bullet鈥 of air dominance that the F-22 was when it entered service.
F-35 continues to grow in export popularity
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jet is the most advanced in the world and is 鈥渢he鈥 5th-generation fighter jet on the market. As such, the aircraft receives an enormous amount of scrutiny and public press.
Given that more orders for the F-35 continue to roll in from overseas countries like Belgium and Germany, and more countries like Morocco and听, it鈥檚 unclear if the USAF鈥檚 reduced buys will have any impact on Lockheed鈥檚 production rate.
So far, no export order has been cancelled, although Spain and Portugal have (for now at least) given up on ordering the aircraft, and听. Currently, the first F-35A is expected to be delivered to Canada in 2026.
Having delivered 110 F-35s in 2024,听听is reporting Lockheed Martin is planning to deliver up to 200 in 2025. This will be record-breaking and likely more than all other Western and even Russian fighter jets deliveries for 2025 combined.
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