WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has found that it’s $1.4 billion short of funds for the next major contract to buy F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin Corp., according to a new list of so-called unfunded priorities sent to Congress.
If more money isn’t found, the pending three-year contract, valued at as much as $30 billion, will yield fewer aircraft for the U.S.’s costliest weapons program, which is now estimated at $412 billion.
The Defense Department and Lockheed are supposed to be in the final stages of crafting what was expected to be a contract for 375 aircraft in the F-35’s 15th through 17th production lots. But now they’re likely to be cut below that number. That already was a drop from 485 planes anticipated in February 2019, before negotiations began, and 404 in April of that year.
