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Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky have secured two major defense contracts worth a combined $35 billion.

Getting into it: Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary in Stratford, Connecticut, landed a $10.8 billion deal to supply as many as 99 CH-53K King Stallion helicopters to the US Marine Corps through a five-year production run. Rather than separate individual contracts, the Navy bundled Lots 9–13 into this one deal, providing steadier pricing, streamlined deliveries, and efficiency gains across Sikorsky’s assembly line.

The CH-53K, built as the successor to the older CH-53E, can lift loads of about 27,000. To date, Sikorsky has delivered 20 CH-53K aircraft, with an additional 63 in various stages of production from earlier lots. Deliveries under this new contract are expected between 2029 and 2034.The impact on jobs and the defense industrial base is significant. Sikorsky says the agreement will support thousands of jobs at the company and across its supplier network. State officials praised the contract, with State Senators Jason Perillo and Stephen Harding saying, “This announcement brings predictability to Sikorsky for years to come. It’s a big win, and a testament to Sikorsky excellence.”

The second major contract involves Lockheed Martin’s flagship fighter program, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Department of Defense awarded the company a $12.5 billion contract modification on September 29 to produce and deliver 296 F-35 aircraft across production Lots 18 and 19. This builds on a prior $11.8 billion agreement reached in December 2024, bringing the total value of the combined lots to approximately $24.3 billion.

The deal includes aircraft for the US Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy, as well as international partners and foreign military sales customers. Specific allocations include 40 F-35As for the Air Force, 12 F-35Bs and 8 F-35Cs for the Marine Corps, and 9 F-35Cs for the Navy. Additionally, 67 aircraft are destined for US partners and foreign buyers such as South Korea and Israel.

Deliveries are expected to begin in 2026, with Lockheed building the majority of the jets at its Fort Worth, Texas, facility.