Lockheed Martin shares dropped as much as 7% on Wednesday after news that the Pentagon is asking for half of the F-35s it initially forecast for the Air Force.
The defense contractor’s shares recovered to $456 at market close, or about 4.2% lower from $476, the price at the end of Tuesday’s trading day.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that a procurement document sent to Congress indicated the Defense Department is requesting only 24 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters for the Air Force, down from 48 that officials projected in the last fiscal year.
Per the outlet, the document also proposed 12 F-35s for the Navy and 11 for the Marine Corps, down from 17 and 13 fighters, respectively.
Business Insider could not independently verify Bloomberg’s report. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
The US is by far Lockheed Martin’s biggest customer for the F-35, with plans to buy 2,456 of the aircraft over several decades. The Air Force is supposed to eventually receive 1,763 of that total.
When asked to comment on a possible reduction of local F-35 purchases this year, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told BI in a statement that the fighter is “combat proven, offers the most advanced capability and technology, and is the most affordable option to ensure the US and allies remain ahead of emerging threats.”
“We will continue to work closely with the Administration, Congress, and our customers to deliver this game-changing capability as the budget process continues in the months ahead,” the spokesperson added.
A reduced ask for F-35s can potentially be changed by Congress, which is still deliberating on official defense funding for the 2025 fiscal year ending on September 30.
Lawmakers have shown they’re willing to fund the advanced stealth fighter beyond the Pentagon’s requests. When the Air Force requested 48 F-35s from Congress last year, it was instead offered money for 51 of the planes. Doubling the requested budget, however, would be a huge jump from that smaller boost.
The Pentagon is shifting its budget
The reported change could also signify an internal reshaping of the Pentagon’s spending priorities under the Trump administration. In February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked officials to slash 8% of expenses from existing programs over the next five years so the money could be directed to Trump-favored initiatives.
His announcement highlighted 17 categories protected from cuts, and the F-35 was not one of them.
All of this comes as those in Trump’s circles have publicly criticized the F-35 for its cost and relevance amid the rise of drone warfare. Right-wing commentator Laura Loomer, for example, slammed the F-35 program in April as a “scandal that’s been quietly draining our nation’s resources.”
And last month, Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz posted on X that the fighter program was a “$1.7 trillion disaster.”
While some, like Elon Musk, have suggested that drones make crewed fighters obsolete, the US military says it wants to marry the two concepts instead of abandoning the latter. The Air Force has said combining crewed fighters with drone wingmen is a key priority for the F-47, its next-generation air dominance fighter.
Lockheed was in the running to produce that fighter, but lost out to Boeing. However, Lockheed CEO Jim Taiclet has said that his firm wants to enhance the F-35 using the tech it created for the failed bid.
Taiclet said that plans include automating the sixth-generation fighter and juicing it up to provide most of the capabilities of the F-47 for a fraction of the cost.
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