The United Kingdom has inked the contract for the first four production versions of the short-takeoff and vertical-landing variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter being built by Lockheed Martin [LMT], the Defense Ministry said. The contract was part of a deal announced by the Pentagon Friday for 43 of the stealthy fighter jets for the U.S. military and international customers. The United Kingdom has taken delivery of three F-35Bs for test and evaluation at Eglin AFB, Fla., with a…