In a year that reshaped the global combat aviation landscape, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II emerged as the single most significant fighter aircraft program in the world. Of the roughly 500 fighter jets delivered globally in 2025, a remarkable 191 were F-35s—more than any other single aircraft type and a record annual delivery total for the program.
After years defined by delays, cost overruns, and technical challenges—hardly unusual for a fifth-generation fighter of its complexity—the F-35 is now firmly establishing itself as the backbone of U.S. and allied airpower. While 2025’s delivery surge was partly the result of clearing a backlog caused by the troubled Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) upgrade, the numbers nonetheless underscore the program’s unprecedented scale, maturity, and strategic impact.
With nearly 1,300 aircraft delivered worldwide by the end of 2025, the F-35 is no longer merely the most numerous fifth-generation fighter—it now outnumbers all other fifth-generation aircraft combined and is rapidly becoming one of the most common fighter jet families in service globally.
In January 2026, Lockheed Martin confirmed it had delivered 191 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets during 2025, surpassing its previous annual delivery record of 142 aircraft. The total included all three variants of the aircraft—the conventional takeoff F-35A, the short takeoff and vertical landing F-35B, and the carrier-capable F-35C—as well as jets assembled at the company’s Italian and Japanese final assembly and check-out (FACO) facilities.
Lockheed described the global fleet as “almost 1,300” aircraft by year’s end, a figure that reflects both U.S. deliveries and the accelerating transition of allied air forces to the stealth fighter.
However, the record deliveries do not represent a sudden spike in production capacity. Instead, they were driven primarily by the resolution of the long-running TR-3 upgrade crisis, which had prevented the U.S. government from accepting newly built jets and left dozens parked around Lockheed’s facilities.
At the height of the issue in 2024, as many as 120 completed F-35s were undeliverable. Bloomberg reported in 2025 that 72 jets were still awaiting delivery, though it was unclear how many belonged to export customers versus the U.S. military. Once the integration problems were resolved, Lockheed was able to ship most of these aircraft in 2025, creating what was effectively a delivery surge rather than a production surge.
Lockheed Martin’s stable production capacity remains around 156-plus aircraft per year. Of the 191 jets delivered in 2025, roughly 93 were backlog aircraft, while the remaining 98 were delivered on their original contractual schedules.
Even accounting for the backlog effect, the F-35’s production tempo over the past five years almost certainly makes it the most-produced fighter jet in the world. The only potential competitors in raw output are Chinese designs such as the J-10 and J-20, though Beijing’s opaque reporting makes firm comparisons difficult.
What is beyond dispute is that the F-35 remains the only fifth-generation fighter available on the international market in meaningful numbers. Russia has reportedly delivered a very limited number of Su-57 Felons to Algeria, but the aircraft has not achieved large-scale production or export success. By contrast, the F-35 has become the default high-end fighter choice for U.S. allies across Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
In 2025 alone, more F-35s were delivered than all other frontline American, European, Russian, Pakistani, and Indian fighter jets combined. The aircraft accounted for more than half of all non-Chinese fighter jet deliveries worldwide.
Think tank RUSI analyst Justin Bronk estimated that China delivered between 220 and 280 fighters in 2025, including up to 100 J-10s and as many as 120 J-20s. However, China-focused open-source intelligence analysts have offered lower figures. The OSINT account Hurin, for example, placed J-10 deliveries closer to 40 and J-20 output at around 100.
By comparison, Lockheed Martin delivered roughly 20 F-16s, Boeing delivered nine F-15EXs and 14 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, while European manufacturers delivered approximately 41 fighters—25 Dassault Rafales, around 12 Eurofighter Typhoons, and four Saab Gripen Es. Russian industry delivered an estimated 33 to 39 frontline fighters.
By the end of 2024, more than 1,100 F-35s had already been delivered: 797 F-35As, 204 F-35Bs, and 102 F-35Cs. Adding the roughly 200 aircraft delivered since then brings the total to around 1,300.
The United States remains the dominant operator. The U.S. Air Force has likely received more than 500 F-35As, while the Marine Corps and Navy operate the B and C variants respectively. All F-35Cs are flown by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, while F-35Bs are operated by the Marines as well as Japan, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
European air forces are progressing rapidly through their transitions. Norway and the Netherlands have fully completed their F-35 programs of record, while Denmark has fully retired its F-16 fleet as it works up its F-35 capability. Belgium received its first F-35A in-country in 2025 and subsequently increased its order. Italy and Denmark both expanded their planned buys by 25 and 16 aircraft respectively.
Finland, which has ordered 64 F-35As, saw its first aircraft roll out in 2025, marking a major milestone in Helsinki’s post-F/A-18 era.
Beyond delivery numbers, 2025 was also notable for the F-35’s growing operational and combat record. Dutch F-35s became the first of the type to kinetically protect NATO airspace when they shot down Russian drones over Poland. Israeli and U.S. F-35s played a central role in suppressing and destroying Iranian air defenses, further validating the aircraft’s role as a stealthy “first-day-of-war” platform.
It is also believed that Marine Corps-operated F-35Cs saw their first combat use in late 2024, marking another milestone for the carrier-based variant.
These real-world operations have helped solidify the aircraft’s reputation not just as a stealth fighter, but as a central node in modern air warfare.
The TR-3 upgrade, which caused so much disruption, is now widely seen as a painful but necessary step toward the F-35’s next evolutionary phase: Block 4.
TR-3 provides the aircraft with a vastly more powerful computing backbone—around 25 times the processing power of the previous TR-2 systems. This increase is essential to support Block 4 enhancements, which include upgraded electro-optical sensors, improved displays, enhanced cooling, expanded electronic warfare capabilities, and the integration of new weapons.
As The War Zone noted, Block 4 will allow the F-35 to fully realize its potential as a multi-domain combat system rather than a traditional fighter jet.
The episode also highlighted a broader truth about modern combat aircraft. The F-35 is best understood not as a jet in the classical sense, but as a flying supercomputer—a sensor fusion platform capable of creating a near “god’s eye view” of the battlespace and distributing that information to other aircraft, ships, and ground forces.
In September 2025, Lockheed Martin finalized production contracts for Lots 18 and 19, covering up to 296 aircraft for approximately $24 billion. The company described the deal as “the finalization of the largest production contracts in program history.”
Yet challenges remain. Frustrated by years of delays and cost overruns, the U.S. government reduced its planned F-35 purchases for 2026, though it did not alter the long-term program of record. Geopolitical uncertainty has also cast a shadow over Canada’s planned purchase of 88 F-35s. While Ottawa has already committed to the first 16 aircraft, it is reportedly considering reducing the order in favor of the Saab Gripen.
These debates underscore the tension between the F-35’s unmatched capabilities and its high costs—a tension that has followed the program since its inception.
The scale of today’s F-35 fleet is all the more striking when viewed against the program’s early years. Lockheed delivered just nine F-35s in 2011, followed by 29 in 2012 and 35 in 2013. Deliveries plateaued in the mid-2010s before accelerating sharply after the aircraft achieved initial operational capability.
Production rose to 66 aircraft in 2017 and 91 in 2018, before crossing the 100-delivery threshold in 2019 with 134 jets. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a dip in 2020, but deliveries rebounded to 142 in 2021 and 141 in 2022. TR-3 issues then drove deliveries down to 98 in 2023 and 110 in 2024, before the record-breaking rebound in 2025.
While 2026 deliveries are expected to fall back toward the program’s steady-state rate, the long-term trend remains clear.
With around 1,300 aircraft delivered, the F-35 family is now likely the third most common fighter jet family in the world, trailing only the F-16 Fighting Falcon—with more than 2,000 active units—and the Su-27 Flanker family, estimated at around 1,284 aircraft across all variants.
Given Russia’s low production rates, combat losses, and the steady retirement of older Flankers, the F-35 may soon overtake the Flanker family to become the second most numerous fighter aircraft in service globally.
If that happens, it will mark an extraordinary transformation for a program once derided as too expensive, too complex, and too troubled to succeed.
The F-35’s journey has been long, contentious, and often politically fraught. Yet by the end of 2025, the aircraft had moved decisively from controversy to cornerstone. It dominates the global fifth-generation market, forms the backbone of allied airpower, and continues to evolve into a central command-and-control platform for future conflicts.
While delivery numbers may dip in 2026 as backlog effects fade, the strategic trajectory of the F-35 appears firmly set. In an era defined by sensor fusion, electronic warfare, and networked operations, the Lightning II has become less a fighter jet and more the operating system of Western air combat.
