The F-35 Lightning II is made by Lockheed Martin, the American defense giant that serves as the program’s prime contractor and is responsible for final assembly of every jet.
Final assembly takes place at Lockheed Martin’s massive Air Force Plant 4 facility in Fort Worth, Texas, where 19,000 employees work on F-35 production.
Two principal partners share the manufacturing work: Northrop Grumman builds the center fuselage in Palmdale and El Segundo, California, while BAE Systems builds the aft fuselage and tails in Samlesbury, England.
The F-35’s engine, the Pratt and Whitney F135, is built by Pratt and Whitney, a subsidiary of RTX Corporation, at facilities in Connecticut and Maine.
In 2025, Lockheed Martin delivered a record 191 F-35s, making it the most productive year in the program’s history and running at a pace five times faster than any other allied combat fighter in production.
The F-35 program involves more than 1,900 suppliers across the globe, making it the most internationally distributed combat aircraft program in history.
Table of Contents
Who Makes the F-35 and What Companies Are Involved?
Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor responsible for the overall F-35 program, final assembly, flight testing, and delivery to the U.S. military and allied customers.
Northrop Grumman is the largest principal partner. It manufactures the center fuselage, the AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array radar, and several communication and electronic systems at its Palmdale and El Segundo, California facilities.
BAE Systems is the second principal partner. The British defense company builds the aft fuselage, horizontal and vertical tails, and provides electronic warfare systems including the aircraft’s warfare suite from its Samlesbury, England facility.
Pratt and Whitney, an RTX subsidiary, manufactures the F135 turbofan engine that powers all three F-35 variants. Rolls-Royce supplies the LiftSystem used in the F-35B short-takeoff and vertical-landing variant.
Where Is the F-35 Built?
The primary final assembly location is Fort Worth, Texas, where all three F-35 variants, the conventional F-35A, the short-takeoff and vertical-landing F-35B, and the carrier-variant F-35C, are assembled and test-flown before delivery.
A secondary final assembly line exists in Cameri, Italy, operated by Leonardo S.p.A., which assembles F-35s for European customers.
A third line in Nagasaki, Japan, operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, assembles F-35As for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
Most British F-35Bs are assembled in Fort Worth rather than at the Italian line, despite the UK being a major partner nation.
The UK contributes approximately 15% of all F-35 components by value, making it by far the largest international supplier in the program.
How Many Countries Are Involved in Making the F-35?
The F-35 supply chain spans more than 1,900 companies in dozens of countries. Key partner nations include the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Turkey (suspended), and Canada.
Denmark’s Terma supplies center fuselage sub-assemblies. Norway’s Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace supplies rudders and landing gear components under contracts worth billions of Norwegian krone.
These international supply arrangements were deliberately designed to build political support for the program across allied nations.
How Many F-35s Have Been Built?
As of the end of 2025, Lockheed Martin had delivered well over 1,000 F-35s to customers worldwide. The 2025 delivery total of 191 jets broke the previous record of 142 set in 2021.
The program’s target is to eventually deliver around 3,000 F-35s to the U.S. military alone, with additional hundreds going to allied nations.
The F-35 is operated by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as the air forces of the UK, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, Japan, Israel, South Korea, Poland, Finland, Germany, and several other nations.
F-35 vs. F-22 Raptor: What Is the Difference?
The F-35 and F-22 Raptor are both fifth-generation stealth fighters made by Lockheed Martin, but they serve very different roles.
The F-22 is an air superiority fighter optimized for defeating enemy aircraft and was built in limited numbers (187 production aircraft) at Lockheed’s Marietta, Georgia facility in partnership with Boeing.
The F-35 is a multirole strike fighter designed to replace a wide range of older aircraft across multiple branches and allied nations.
It prioritizes sensor fusion, electronic warfare capability, and the ability to attack ground targets in contested airspace over the raw speed and maneuverability that define the F-22. The F-35 is being built in far larger numbers and is available to allied nations, while the F-22 has never been exported.
What Does the F-35 Cost?
The unit cost of an F-35A, the conventional takeoff and landing variant used by the Air Force, has fallen significantly as production has ramped up.
Early production jets cost well over $200 million each. By 2024 and 2025, the per-unit flyaway cost of an F-35A had dropped to approximately $80 to $85 million per aircraft in the most recent Lot 18 and 19 contracts.
The F-35B short-takeoff variant used by the Marine Corps costs more due to its unique LiftSystem, while the F-35C carrier variant is the most expensive of the three due to its strengthened airframe and arresting gear.
Over the program’s full projected production life of roughly 3,000 aircraft, the F-35 is the most expensive weapons acquisition program in human history.
Frequently Asked Questions About Who Makes the F-35
Is the F-35 made by Boeing?
No. The F-35 is made by Lockheed Martin. Boeing competed for the Joint Strike Fighter contract in the late 1990s with its X-32 prototype but lost to Lockheed Martin’s X-35 design. Boeing makes the F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-15EX Eagle II, which are competing platforms to the F-35 in some respects.
Where is the F-35 assembled in the USA?
All F-35s for the U.S. military and most allied customers are assembled at Lockheed Martin’s Air Force Plant 4 in Fort Worth, Texas. The facility employs 19,000 workers and delivered a record 191 jets in 2025.
What percentage of the F-35 is made in the USA?
Approximately 59% of the F-35’s manufacturing work by value is performed in the United States, primarily at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant and Northrop Grumman’s California facilities. The UK contributes about 15%, making it the largest international supplier, while Italy, Norway, Denmark, and other partner nations share the remaining work.
I am Jack Neel, a mechanical engineer, researcher, and writer. I created this website to share my knowledge about different brands and products with you. I research the manufacturers behind the brands and provide you with the information you need to make smart buying decisions.