전투기 미 국방부, 록히드 마틴과 향후 10년 동안 F-35 장기 구매계약 기본합의 체결

[위종민]

미 국방부가 10월 22일 록히드 마틴과 향후 10년동안 매년  미국과 해외고객용 F-35를 매년 156대, 그 중 미군이 최소 850대를 구매하는 장기계약 기본 합의를 체결했다고 발표했네요. 가격, 일정, 각 군종별 배정 수량 등은 미확정 상태이고, 의회의 승인이 남아있습니다. 

2017년 4월 6일 텍사스주 포트워스에 있는 록히드마틴의 길이 1마일에 달하는 공장에서 차세대 생산설비 기술과 고도로 숙련된 인력들이 협력해 F-35 라이트닝 II를 생산하고 있다. (록히드마틴 사진: Alexander H. Groves)

# 미 국방부와 록히드마틴, F-35 구매를 위한 10년 장기계약 기본합의 체결

2026년 10월 22일 | 스티븐 로지

미 국방부와 록히드마틴은 10월 22일 향후 10년 동안 F-35 통합타격전투기를 구매하기 위한 기본합의를 발표했다.

그러나 미 국방부가 ‘획기적’이며 최초의 사례라고 홍보한 이번 합의는 의회가 군에 이러한 다년 계약을 체결할 권한을 부여하는 것을 전제로 한다.

합의에 따라 록히드마틴은 21차부터 30차 생산분에 걸쳐 미국과 해외 고객을 위해 매년 5세대 전투기 156대를 생산하게 된다. 미 국방부와 록히드마틴의 발표에 따르면 미군은 이번 합의가 적용되는 10년 동안 총 1,560대 가운데 최소 850대를 구매하며, 초기 예비부품과 개조용 키트도 조달한다. 이번 합의에는 전 세계 F-35 항공기단의 유지·운용지원도 포함된다.

가격과 일정 같은 세부사항은 아직 확정되지 않았다. F-35의 각 파생형이 몇 대씩 생산될지, 공군·해군·해병대 등 개별 군종에 각각 몇 대가 배정될지도 불분명하다.

“우리는 미국 방위산업 기반을 안정화해 신속하고 대규모로 생산할 수 있도록 하는 방식을 근본적으로 바꿨습니다.” 마이클 더피 미 국방부 획득·유지 담당 차관은 국방부 성명에서 말했다. “록히드마틴과의 이번 합의가 이를 입증합니다. 재정적 인센티브를 실제 성과와 연계함으로써 우리 장병들이 싸워 이기는 데 필요한 치명적인 능력을 갖추도록 보장하고 있습니다.”

록히드마틴은 또한 F-35 사업을 지원하는 프로젝트에 자체 자금으로 최소 70억 달러를 투자하기로 합의했다.

“이번 다년 계약 기본합의는 F-35 사업 전반에 대한 계획과 투자 방식을 강화합니다.” 록히드마틴의 짐 타이클릿 사장 겸 최고경영자는 회사 성명에서 말했다. “미국 정부가 F-35 생산과 유지·운용지원에 대해 추진하는 혁신적인 접근방식으로 더 큰 확실성을 확보하게 되면서, 우리는 생산능력을 확대하고 효율성을 개선하며 더욱 탄력적인 공급망을 구축하는 데 필요한 선행투자를 할 수 있게 됐습니다.”

미 국방부는 이번 합의가 F-35를 ‘현대화하고 생산을 확대하기 위한 안정적인 장기 조달 신호’를 제공할 수 있다고 강조했다. 그러나 동시에 실제 합의 이행은 ‘의회의 승인과 예산 배정에 달려 있다’고 성명에서 밝혔다.

의회는 현재 2027년 국방정책 법안을 심의하면서 미 국방부에 F-35와 F-15EX 전투기에 대한 다년 조달계약 체결 권한을 부여하는 방안을 검토하고 있다. 의원들은 아직 2027 회계연도 예산도 통과시키지 않았기 때문에, 현재 이번 합의에 배정된 예산은 없다.

이러한 입법 절차가 모두 진행 중인 만큼, 10월 22일 발표된 내용은 기본합의에 불과하며 최종 확정된 것은 아니다.

록히드마틴은 의회가 앞으로 몇 달 안에 다년 조달 권한을 부여하고 필요한 예산을 배정한다면 F-35 통합사업실과 협력해 정식 계약 체결을 통해 계약조건, 가격, 일정을 확정할 것이라고 밝혔다.

록히드마틴은 F-35에 대한 예측 가능한 다년 조달계획을 마련하면 ‘장기 가격 책정과 산업계의 대량구매 할인’을 통해 수십억 달러를 절감할 수 있다고 밝혔다. 또한 이번 합의를 통해 사업의 다양한 출처에서 확보한 데이터를 통합 분석에 활용할 수 있게 된다. 이는 부품 재고와 가동준비태세 지표에 대한 가시성을 높이고 ‘투명하고 데이터에 기반한 의사결정’을 가능하게 할 것이다.

이번 합의에 따라 록히드마틴은 공급업체들과 장기계약을 체결해 원자재와 핵심 부품을 대량 구매할 수도 있게 된다. 회사는 이를 통해 F-35의 임무수행 가능률이 향상될 것으로 예상했다. 현재 이러한 계약은 매년 체결되고 있으며, 록히드마틴은 이 방식이 ‘역사적으로 방위산업 기반에 부담을 주어왔다’고 설명했다.

타이클릿은 10월 22일 투자자들을 대상으로 한 실적발표 전화회의에서 F-35 구성품의 최소 60%가 공급업체에서 나온다고 밝혔다. 주요 공급업체에는 각각 항공기 동체의 중앙 부분과 후방 부분을 제작하는 노스럽그러먼과 BAE 시스템스가 포함된다.

“우리 자신이 생산 안정성을 원하는 것처럼, 공급업체들도 생산 안정성을 확보하기를 바랍니다.” 타이클릿은 말했다.

타이클릿은 록히드마틴이 부담하는 가장 큰 비용 가운데 하나가 공급업체들의 부품 납품 지연이나 품질 불량에서 발생한다고 설명하면서, 이번 합의가 이러한 문제를 해결하는 데 도움이 될 것이라고 예상했다.

타이클릿은 투자자들에게 록히드마틴과 공급업체들이 특정 경제적 조건에서 약정된 가격이 인상되는 고정가격 조정조항이 포함된 계약을 적용받게 될 것이라고 말했다.

“우리 모두가 함께 좋은 성과를 내고, 우리가 집행한 투자가 결실을 맺는다면, 가격 인상 조항이 포함된 고정가격 계약 방식에 따라 그 이익을 유지할 수 있게 됩니다.” 타이클릿은 말했다. “이전에는 내부 투자를 통해 이룬 개선의 성과를 가격과 영업이익의 형태로 돌려줘야 했습니다. 따라서 이러한 방식이 생산체계에 적용될 것입니다. 생산량이 156대에 머무르더라도 산업계에는 훨씬 건전한 생산체계가 되고, 정부에는 더욱 예측 가능한 생산체계가 될 것입니다.”

록히드마틴은 또한 항공기 생산과 예비부품 및 개조용 키트의 구매를 하나의 계약으로 통합하면 대량구매에 따른 비용 절감과 비용 예측 가능성도 확보할 수 있다고 밝혔다.

“새로운 다년 계약 기본합의는 공급업체들이 미래를 계획하고 확신을 갖고 투자할 수 있는 안정성을 제공하며, F-35 전체 항공기단의 가동준비태세를 개선합니다.” 록히드마틴 항공사업부 사장 OJ 산체스는 회사 성명에서 말했다. “여기에 록히드마틴이 전 세계 공동 예비부품 재고에 집행하는 투자가 더해지면, 이는 곧바로 더 높은 임무수행 가능률과 더욱 탄력적인 공급망으로 이어질 것입니다. 이러한 능력은 장병들이 오늘의 임무를 수행하고 내일의 위협에 대비하기 위해 반드시 필요합니다.”

실적발표 전화회의에서 타이클릿은 F-35에 6세대 기술을 추가하려는 록히드마틴의 의지를 다시 강조했다. 이 구상은 회사가 미 공군의 F-47 계약을 보잉에 빼앗긴 뒤인 2025년 4월 처음 제시한 것으로, 타이클릿은 당시 이를 ‘페라리’ F-35를 만드는 것이라고 표현했다. 타이클릿은 이를 통해 전용으로 설계된 6세대 항공기 능력의 80%를 절반의 비용으로 구현할 수 있다고 말했다.

록히드마틴의 주요 F-35 생산공장은 텍사스주 포트워스에 있다.

Pentagon, Lockheed Agree on 10-Year Framework for F-35

Next generation tooling techniques and a highly skilled workforce perform together to produce the F-35 Lightning II at Lockheed Martin's mile-long factory in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 6, 2017. Lockheed Martin photo byAlexander H. Groves

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Pentagon, Lockheed Agree on 10-Year Framework for Buying F-35s

Oct. 22, 2026 | By Stephen Losey

The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin on Oct. 22 announced a framework agreement to buy F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the next 10 years.

But the deal, touted by the Pentagon as “landmark” and a first of its kind, depends on Congress granting the military authority to enter into such a multiyear agreement.

Under the deal, Lockheed will build 156 of the fifth-generation jets per year for both the U.S. and international customers, across lots 21 through 30. The U.S. military will buy at least 850 of those 1,560 aircraft over the decade covering the agreement, as well as procurement of initial spare parts and modification kits, the Pentagon and Lockheed said in statements. The deal also covers sustainment of the global F-35 fleet.

Details such as pricing and schedules have yet to be hammered out. It’s also unclear how many of each F-35 variant will be produced, and how many will go to individual services like the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.

“We have fundamentally changed how we stabilize the American defense industrial base to produce at speed and scale,” Michael Duffey, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in the Pentagon’s statement. “This agreement with Lockheed Martin proves it. By aligning financial incentives with actual performance, we are ensuring our warfighters are equipped with the lethal capabilities they need to fight and win.”

Lockheed Martin has also agreed to invest at least $7 billion of its own money into projects to support the F-35 program.

“This multiyear framework strengthens the way we can plan and invest in the F-35 enterprise,” Lockheed President and CEO Jim Taiclet said in the company’s statement. “With the greater certainty that comes from the U.S. government’s transformative approach to F-35 production and sustainment, we can make the upfront investments needed to expand capacity, improve efficiency, and build a more resilient supply chain.”

While the Defense Department touted the agreement’s ability to create “a stable, long-term procurement signal to modernize and expand” the F-35, it also noted in its statement that actually executing the agreement “remains subject to congressional authorization and appropriations.”

Congress is currently considering granting the Pentagon the authority to enter into multiyear procurement contracts for the F-35 and F-15EX fighters as part of its work on the 2027 defense policy bill. Lawmakers have also yet to pass a budget for fiscal 2027, leaving the agreement unfunded at the moment.

With all that legislation still pending, the Oct. 22 announcement is only a framework and not finalized.

Lockheed said if Congress does grant the multiyear procurement authority and the necessary appropriations in the next few months, it will work with the F-35 Joint Program Office to finalize the contract terms, pricing, and schedules through a formal award.

Lockheed said having predictable, multiyear procurement plans for the F-35 would save billions of dollars “through long-term pricing and industry volume discounts.” And the agreement will allow the program to combine data from a variety of sources into integrated analytics, that will provide more visibility into parts inventory and readiness metrics and allow “transparent, data-driven decision making.”

The deal will also allow Lockheed to enter into long-term contracts with suppliers to buy raw materials and critical parts in bulk, which the company predicted would improve F-35 mission-capable rates. Currently, those deals are made on an annual basis, which Lockheed said “has historically strained the industrial base.”

In an earnings call with investors Oct. 22, Taiclet said at least 60 percent of an F-35’s content comes from its suppliers, including major suppliers such as Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems, which make the center and aft sections of the jets’ bodies, respectively.

“We want them to have production stability, just as we would like to have it,” Taiclet said.

Taiclet said one of Lockheed’s biggest costs comes from suppliers providing components late, or at poor quality, and he predicted this agreement will help correct those problems.

Taiclet told investors that Lockheed and its suppliers will be under a fixed-price escalation contract, in which set prices increase under certain economic conditions.

“We’ll all collectively—if we do well and perform well, and those investments pay off that we make—we will get to retain those profits under the fixed-price-with-escalator concept,” Taiclet said. “Before, we would have to give back, with price and operating profit, any improvements we invested in internally. So that is going to apply to the production system. Even if it stays at 156, it’ll be a much healthier production system for industry, and a more predictable production system for government.”

And combining aircraft production with the purchase of spare parts and modification kits in the same contract will also yield volume savings and cost predictability, Lockheed said.

“Our new multiyear framework gives suppliers stability to plan for the future and invest with confidence, improving readiness across the F-35 fleet,” Lockheed Martin Aeronautics President OJ Sanchez said in the company’s statement. “This, in addition to the investments Lockheed Martin is making to the global spares pool, will directly translate into higher mission-capable rates and a more resilient supply chain—critical capabilities the warfighter needs to meet today’s mission and prepare for tomorrow’s threats.”

During the earnings call, Taiclet reiterated Lockheed’s desire—first voiced in April 2025, after the company lost the Air Force’s F-47 contract to Boeing—to add sixth-generation technologies into the F-35, which he previously referred to as making a “Ferrari” F-35. Taiclet said this could achieve 80 percent of a bespoke sixth-generation aircraft’s capabilities, at half the cost.

 Lockheed’s primary F-35 factory is in Fort Worth, Texas.