Lockheed Martin of Bethesda gets $2.2B order

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), May 23, 2008

Lockheed Martin Corp., of Bethesda, the world's largest defense company, said it received $2.2 billion from the U.S. Defense Department for 12 F-35 stealth fighter jets. The company received the money for six F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jets for the Air Force and provisional funding approval for six F-35Bs for the Marine Corps.

The Marine jets differ in that they offer short takeoffs and vertical landing. The first flight of the F-35B vertical-landing variant will occur in the next few weeks, the company said. The $299 billion F-35 program is the Pentagon's largest weapons venture.