Not many companies in the aerospace industry look back warmly to 2021, but F-35 airframe integrator Lockheed LMT +2% Martin has good reason to be happy.
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As defense analyst Byron Callan of Capital Alpha Partners notes in the Jan. 2 Defense Performance Sheet, Finland's year-end announcement of 64 stealth fighters "further strengthens Lockheed Martin's dominance in the fighter market."
No kidding: Finland not only bought the fighter, but Switzerland announced in mid-year that it would buy 36 F-35s, and Canada later excluded the only serious bidder for the F-35 from bidding for its future fighter.
Meanwhile, the production and deployment of the F-35 is making rapid progress on all fronts.
Deliveries of the aircraft increased from 120 in 2020 to 142 in 2021, with a further increase planned for 2022.
More than 750 F-35s have now been delivered in various variants, and the user community has grown significantly beyond the eight Allies who have worked closely with the US to develop the fighter since its inception.
These countries, mostly European NATO members such as Italy and the UK, have now joined countries such as Israel, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
As the last three countries have declared the F-35 operational, the fighter is now available for combat in any potential conflict zone between the great powers on the outskirts of Eurasia.
For example, the US and its allies have deployed F-35s on land bases from Alaska to Australia (original program partners), and there are additional F-35s in the Western Pacific on US Navy and Marine Corps warships.
In Europe, the Netherlands (another original partner) became the eighth country on 27 December to declare the F-35 combat readiness, meaning it could join Italy, Norway and the UK on combat missions.
Italy, which was the first European country to declare the F-35 operational four years ago, conducted its first F-35 intercept in May in support of Baltic air policing, and began flying a jet-powered version of the F-35 in November. . Cavour carrier.
With Israel and Italy already using combat aircraft, and other littoral states likely to join the program, the F-35 is poised to become the dominant air force supplier in the Mediterranean region for the foreseeable future.
This is a remarkable achievement for a program that has been controversial for much of its history, thanks in large part to the costs associated with replacing most of the Cold War tactical aircraft in the combined US fleet.
However, as the program gradually reduced risk during development, it became clear that the F-35 was destined to become what its creators originally envisioned: the deadliest, most versatile and enduring tactical aircraft ever built.
Military drills in 2021 show that the F-35 is not only suitable for striking enemy aircraft and ground targets, but can also provide a wide range of intelligence to support other services as joint forces move into what they call multi-domain warfare.
What's more, the F-35 is far superior to previous fighters in its ability to locate, lock and lock on enemy transmitters such as radar using advanced jamming techniques.
Such capabilities are not widely known as much of the technology the F-35 uses to covertly gather and use intelligence on adversaries is classified, but countries like Australia and Italy understood early on that they were buying more. than an inconspicuous fighter - the F-35. can do things that other tactical aircraft cannot do.
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