
A House-Senate fiscal 2024 appropriations conference agreement says that it would add $277 million for three U.S. Air Force F-35A fighters by Lockheed Martin [LMT]. The agreement would thus raise the service's Lightning II buy from 48 planes this fiscal year to 51 for a total cost of $5.2 billion. In addition to the $277 million for three more F-35As, congressional appropriators said that they added almost $104 million to Air Force F-35A procurement for "unit cost shortfalls" and $83…