Lockheed Secures a $250M Contract Involving F-35 Fighter Jet Program

Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT recently clinched a modification contract involving the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft program. The award has been provided by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.

Details of LMT’s Deal

Valued at $250 million, the contract is expected to be completed by August 2027. Per the terms of the deal, Lockheed will produce the F-35 logistics information system, which includes the Autonomic Logistics Information System and Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN) and Mission Planning Environment (MPE) hardware. It will also provide associated support necessary to field the F-35 ODIN, MPE and components of any future ODIN and MPE retrofits for the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C aircraft in support of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

The contract will serve the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Foreign Military Sales customers and F-35 Cooperative Program Partners.

The work related to this deal will be executed in Orlando, FL, and Fort Worth, TX.

LMT Stock’s Growth Potential

Rising military conflicts, terrorism and border disputes, along with rapid technological advancements in combat jets, have led nations to increase their defense spending on combat-proven jets, which constitute an integral part of their defense structure.

This is likely to have prompted the Mordor Intelligence firm to forecast a compound annual growth rate of 4.7% for the global military aviation market during the 2025-2030 period.

Such strong market prospects drive growth opportunities for Lockheed, which boasts a robust portfolio of combat jets, including F-21, F-2 Support Fighter, F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-22 Raptor, in addition to the F-35 jets.

Opportunities for LMT’s Peers

Other aerospace companies that are likely to benefit from the expanding global military aviation market are discussed below:

Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC: Northrop is a provider of manned and unmanned air systems. It builds some of the world’s most advanced combat aircraft, like the E-2C Hawkeye 2000, A-10 Thunderbolt II, B-2 Stealth Bomber aircraft and many more.

Northrop has a long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate of 3.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOC’s 2025 sales indicates year-over-year growth of 2.8%.

Embraer ERJ: The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of the most advanced aircraft in the combat market, which includes the A-29 Super Tucano light attack and advanced trainer and the C-390 Millennium military multi-mission aircraft.

ERJ delivered an average earnings surprise of 150.60% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ERJ’s 2025 sales indicates year-over-year growth of 15.4%.

The Boeing Company BA: The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of the most advanced aircraft in the combat market, which includes F/A-18 Super Hornet, P-8, F-15EX, EA-18G Growler and a few more.

Boeing boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 18.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BA’s 2025 sales implies an improvement of 25.6% from the prior-year number.

LMT Stock Price Movement

In the past three months, Lockheed shares have gained 3.8% compared with the industry’s 11.7% growth.

LMT’s Zacks Rank

Lockheed currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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