F-35 production Lot 11 (LRIP 11): ~$12.3B cumulative — from development to buying fighters lot by lot (USAspending)
The Lockheed Martin contract covering aircraft of the F-35's 11th low-rate initial production lot (LRIP 11). Cumulative value is about $12.3 billion ($12,269,145,508), performed from December 2015 through March 2031. F-35s are ordered in annual "lots," and this record shows the production stage — a companion piece to the development (SDD) contract.
Contract key facts
- RecipientLockheed Martin
- Contract value$12,269,145,508 (≈$12.27B)
- BranchDefense-wide
- Awarding agencyDepartment of Defense
- Awarding sub-agencyDefense Contract Management Agency
- Award typeDEFINITIVE CONTRACT
- Period of performance2015-12-21 〜 2031-03-31
- Contract ID (PIID)N0001916C0033
Contract scope (original)
LRIP 11 AAC
Key points
- Aircraft contract for the F-35's 11th low-rate initial production lot — primary record classified "LRIP 11 AAC"
- Awarded to Lockheed Martin; cumulative ~$12.3B ($12,269,145,508; multi-year)
- Performance December 2015–March 2031: from long-lead material through post-delivery residuals
- A two-layer program structure: development (SDD, ~$34.2B) plus annually negotiated production lots
- The LRIP era pairs scaling output with falling unit prices; partner and FMS deliveries ramp up
F-35s are bought in annual batches called lots. Rather than finishing development and then mass-producing in one go, low-rate initial production (LRIP) ramps the line gradually, with quantities and prices renegotiated lot by lot while testing and fielding proceed in parallel.
LRIP 11 is the eleventh such round — by this stage, deliveries to international partners and FMS customers were in full swing, and unit prices were falling as production scaled.
Read alongside the development (SDD) contract this site has already covered (~$34.2B over 21 years), the record shows how a single program is layered: one giant development contract plus production-lot contracts that accumulate every year.
The lot approach allows quantities and prices to adjust as the technology matures — but pairing development with production ("concurrency") also meant design changes rippled back into aircraft already built. Annual lot-price negotiations make headlines precisely because this is where unit-cost reduction is fought out.
Performance stretching to 2031 reflects spares, residual work, and adjustments that remain on the contract long after aircraft delivery — the classic "long tail" of large USAspending awards.
Why it matters
Reading the development contract and a production-lot contract side by side reveals the funding anatomy of a single weapons program. Lot-price negotiations are a defining event for defense-industry profitability — useful base knowledge for readers of defense and aerospace. Cross-read with the F-35 SDD article and Lockheed Martin's profile.
FAQ
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What is LRIP (low-rate initial production)?
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Sources (primary)
This article is an independent organization based on the U.S. official spending data below. Verify the exact, latest details with the official source.
- USAspending (award details)
- Contract ID (PIID)：N0001916C0033