On Monday, March 23, 2026, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (part of Lockheed Martin) announced that the first F-35A Lightning II multirole aircraft for the Federal Republic of Germany, out of a total of 35 ordered, has reached the final stage of assembly at the FACO (Final Assembly and Check-Out) facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
Photos: Chrisa Hanoch, Lockheed Martin
The first German aircraft, bearing the manufacturer serial number MG-01, has moved along the one-kilometer production line and was lifted by crane to the final assembly station. It arrived there on November 25, 2025 (construction began on December 5, 2024).
It was transferred from the electronic mate station, where the forward and aft fuselage sections were joined with the center fuselage section. The aircraft was also placed on its landing gear under load for the first time. It will now proceed to the final phase of assembly, during which control surfaces and other onboard systems will be integrated, and the Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 turbofan engine will be installed. Finally, it will be moved to the paint shop, where several layers of low-observable coating and national markings will be applied.
Later this year, the aircraft will undergo its official rollout, first flight, and transfer to the Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Seven additional aircraft will also be sent there to begin the training program for German instructor pilots and maintenance personnel. They are to be formally delivered by 2027, but will remain in the United States, although this was originally planned only until 2026.
F-35A for Germany
On July 28, 2022, Germany received approval from the U.S. Department of State to purchase 35 F-35A aircraft, along with associated equipment and weapons, for up to 8.4 billion USD. On December 14, 2022, the Federal Ministry of Defence signed the corresponding government-to-government agreement (LOA). On August 17, 2023, the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded a contract worth USD 622.36 million to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics for initial work related to the production of the German aircraft.
German F-35As will be armed with AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missiles, AIM-9X Block II+ Sidewinder short-range missiles, AGM-158B JASSM-ER long-range cruise missiles, GBU-53/B SDB II StormBreaker guided bombs, GBU-31 JDAM and GBU-54 JDAM guided bombs, and JSM anti-ship missiles. Above all, however—being the primary reason for selecting this platform by the government in Berlin—they will be capable of carrying B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bombs under the NATO Nuclear Sharing program.
In the past year and the current year, there have been media reports about a potential increase in the number of German F-35As, but these have been denied by the government in Berlin.
German Industry in the F-35 Program
The German defense industry has also joined the F-35 program. On February 17, 2023, Rheinmetall AG signed a letter of intent with Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin regarding the possible establishment of an F-35 center fuselage production facility in Germany.
On July 4, 2023, it was announced that the plant would be built in Weeze, North Rhine-Westphalia, near the border with the Kingdom of the Netherlands. On August 1, 2023, a groundbreaking ceremony for the future facility took place, and on July 2, 2024, Rheinmetall Aviation Services (RAS), a subsidiary of Rheinmetall, signed an agreement with AERO-Bildungs to provide technical training for employees of the future plant in Weeze. The facility began operations in July 2025 – it currently employs around 200 people, with plans to reach 400 by the end of the year. The contract covers at least 400 center fuselages.
The first center fuselage produced in Germany is to be delivered to U.S. partners in the first quarter of 2027. This will be the second such assembly line, following Northrop Grumman’s F-35 IAL (Integrated Assembly Line) facility in Palmdale, California.
With weight on wheels for the first time, the wing and forward, center and aft fuselage are now joined. From here, engine installation begins, along with control surface and advanced systems integration.
How Germany’s first F-35 is taking shape — and what comes next. 🔗👇
— Lockheed Martin Europe (@LMEuropeNews) March 25, 2026