More than 3,560 pilots and 21,680 maintainers have been trained to operate and support the aircraft. F-35 fleets have completed more than 807,820 sorties and over 810 detachments and deployments, according to data current as of 27 August.
Seventeen military services are flying the F-35, while 12 countries operate the aircraft from their home territory. Fourteen services have declared initial operational capability and three have reached full operational capability.
The programme has 55 active locations across 42 land bases and 13 ships. Lockheed Martin projects that footprint will reach 58 bases and 24 ships by 2030, subject to customer decisions.
The United States remains the largest customer, with planned fleets of 1,763 F-35As for the Air Force, 280 F-35Bs and 140 F-35Cs for the Marine Corps, and 273 F-35Cs for the Navy. The programme also covers the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway.
Foreign Military Sales customers include Israel, Japan, South Korea, Belgium, Poland, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania. Japan has the largest planned fleet in that group, with 105 F-35As and 42 F-35Bs.
Recent activity has highlighted the aircraft’s widening use among programme members. A British pilot flew an F-35C for the first time on 21 August, while Belgian pilots conducted the first GBU-12 bomb release from a Belgian F-35 on 20 August.
A US Marine Corps F-35B squadron received the US Air Force’s Gallant Unit Citation on 19 August for recent combat operations. Two days earlier, Lockheed Martin completed final assembly of Germany’s first F-35.
Denmark declared a new deployable F-35 operations facility fully operational on 14 August. The facility adds to the infrastructure available to support aircraft operations away from permanent bases.
Lockheed Martin said the F-35 had demonstrated its capabilities during Epic Fury, Midnight Hammer, Rough Rider and Rising Lion. It also identified Absolute Resolve, Inherent Resolve and Shader as operations involving the aircraft.
