US Navy Spends Nearly $94Mln on More Electronics for F-35 Jet - Pentagon

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics has been awarded a $93.8 million US Navy contract to buy additional electronic components for the troubled F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighter aircraft, the US Department of Defense announced.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The contract combines purchases for the US Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, foreign military sales customers and international partners under the Foreign Military Sales program, the Defense Department said.

"Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company [of] Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $93.8 million… contract for procurement of diminishing manufacturing sources electronic components," the announcement stated on Wednesday.

The problem-plagued F-35 program has already cost more than $1.5 trillion with recent estimates indicating that its cost may further increase as a result of an embarrassing array of mishaps since the effort began to construct the jet in 2001.