
The United Kingdom is negotiating with Lockheed Martin [LMT] and the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) on 26 additional F-35Bs for the U.K., but a contract is unlikely before 2024 or later this decade. Thus far, the U.K. has ordered 48 F-35Bs and has fielded 26 of them for Britain's two aircraft carriers, the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the HMS Prince of Wales. "Earlier this year we informed the U.S.-led F-35 Joint Program Office of our Tranche 2 purchase intention,…