Pentagon Reduces F-35 Orders By 45 Percent For 2026: Low Availability, Software Issues and Funding Shortages Cut Demand

The Pentagon has significantly reduced planned procurements of F-35 fifth generation fighters for Fiscal Year 2026, cutting numbers to just 47 aircraft, which represents a 45 percent reduction from the 86 aircraft acquired in Fiscal Year 2024. Orders include just 24 of the F-35A variant for the Air Force, or less than half of prior procurement numbers, as well as 11 of the F-35B variant for the U.S. Marine Corps, and 12 F-35C variants, of which the Navy will receive eight and the Marines four. The Department of Defence cutting of its planned F-35A procurements by 50 percent to 24 fighters for Fiscal Year 2026 was first reported in June, following new allocation of funding to develop the F-47 sixth generation fighter. 

The U.S. Armed Forces’ fleets of F-35 fifth generation fighter aircraft operated by the Air Force, Marines, and Navy have continued to suffer low availably rates, which the Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General’s latest report in December 2025 revealed remained at just 50 percent. Earlier in the year, the annual report from the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) has highlighted ongoing difficulties faced by the program in bringing the aircraft up to the much delayed Technology Refresh-3 hardware and software standard. This has contributed to delaying the schedule to bring the fighters up to the Block 4 standard to the early 2030s. These issues combined are considered likely to have significantly undermined Pentagon demand for the aircraft. Cuts to F-35 procurement have occurred amid a growing crisis in the Air Force over its budget, in particular due to the immense development, procurement and operational costs of the F-47. The Department of Defence has continued to delay the U.S. Navy own sixth generation fighter program the F/A-XX, allowing funds to be prioritised for the F-47. 

China’s unveiling of two new sixth generation fighters in December 2024 already at flight prototype stages raised serious questions regarding the F-35’s future viability for high intensity operations in the theatre. Despite the significant reduction to orders to equip the U.S. Armed Forces, F-35 production numbers are expected to remain high at over 130 fighters, as foreign demand for the aircraft continues to grow. Twenty foreign countries have ordered the aircraft, which has consistently vastly outperformed all other Western fighter types when competing in tenders, reflecting its position as the only fifth generation fighter type in production anywhere in the world today. While older clients such as Germany and the United Kingdom are expected to continue to expand their orders, new clients from Portugal to Saudi Arabia are also expected to begin to place orders, with reductions to domestic orders in the United States allowing these export contracts to be fulfilled more quickly as more of production is diverted abroad.