Walk onto the tarmac at Fort Worth and you'll see them. Dozens of gray, jagged silhouettes shimmering in the Texas heat. These are Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs, arguably the most sophisticated pieces of machinery ever built by human hands. But there’s a massive gap between the number of jets the Pentagon wants and the number of jets sitting in hangars right now.
So, how many F-35 does the US have? Honestly, the answer changes every week, but as of early 2026, the United States military operates roughly 650 to 700 F-35 aircraft across its three main branches.
That sounds like a lot. It is. But when you realize the original "program of record" calls for a staggering 2,456 jets, you start to see the scale of the climb. We aren't even halfway there.
Breaking Down the Fleet: Who Owns What?
The US military doesn't just buy one type of F-35. They bought three. It’s a bit like buying a Swiss Army knife where one blade is for the woods, one for the kitchen, and one is actually a tiny screwdriver.
The U.S. Air Force is the biggest player here. They fly the F-35A. This is the "conventional" version. It lands on runways. It has an internal gun. By August 2025, the Air Force hit a massive milestone: they received their 500th F-35A. It’s the backbone.
Then you've got the U.S. Marine Corps. They’re the ones with the "jump jet" obsession. They fly the F-35B, which can hover and land vertically on the decks of amphibious assault ships. They also fly some F-35Cs, but the "B" is their bread and butter. Current estimates put the Marine Corps fleet at roughly 150 to 160 jets.
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The U.S. Navy was the last to the party. Their version, the F-35C, has bigger wings and beefier landing gear for carrier traps. They have the smallest fleet, likely hovering around 90 to 100 aircraft.
The 2025 Surge and the Stored Jet Problem
Last year was wild for Lockheed Martin. They actually broke their own records. In 2025, the company delivered 191 F-35s globally.
Why the sudden jump? Basically, there was a huge logjam.
For a long time, the Pentagon refused to accept new jets because of software issues with something called TR-3 (Technology Refresh 3). It’s basically the "brain" upgrade needed for the newer Block 4 capabilities. Since the software wasn't ready, the jets just sat there. Lockheed kept building them, though. They parked them on runways, in hangars, anywhere they could fit.
Once the software was "truncated" (a fancy way of saying "good enough to fly for now"), the floodgates opened. That's why the 2025 delivery numbers look so inflated—they were clearing out the backlog of over 100 stored jets.
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Why the Pentagon Just Slashed the 2026 Order
If the F-35 is so great, why did the Pentagon just cut its 2026 order by 45 percent?
It’s a money game. And a patience game.
The original plan for Fiscal Year 2026 was to buy 86 jets. Instead, the request was gutted to just 47 aircraft. The Air Force, specifically, only asked for 24 F-35As. That’s half of what they usually grab.
There are three big reasons for this:
- The Block 4 Delay: The full-fat version of the F-35’s next evolution is still years behind. The military is tired of buying "step-gap" jets they'll have to pay to upgrade later.
- The F-47 and NGAD: There's a new kid on the block. Funding is being diverted to 6th-generation programs like the F-47.
- Availability: This is the dirty secret. In late 2025, reports from the Office of the Inspector General showed that only about 50% to 60% of the F-35 fleet is actually mission-capable at any given time.
The Global Picture
You can't talk about how many F-35 the US has without looking at the "Global Fleet." Lockheed Martin recently announced that almost 1,300 F-35s are operational worldwide.
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The US owns about half of those. The rest belong to allies like Israel, the UK, Norway, and recently, Finland. In 2025, even Italy and Denmark upped their orders. This is a huge win for "interoperability." If a US pilot lands at a base in Poland, the Polish crews have the same parts and the same tools to fix the jet.
What’s Next for the Lightning II?
Despite the 2026 budget cuts, the F-35 isn't going anywhere. President Trump’s administration has already hinted at a massive $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027. If that happens, expect F-35 procurement to skyrocket again.
The Air Force has openly stated they need a fleet of 1,558 combat-ready jets by 2035 to stay ahead of China's J-20 production. Right now, they aren't even close to that pace.
If you want to track the real strength of the US fleet, stop looking at the total number of planes. Start looking at the number of TR-3/Block 4 equipped planes. A fleet of 700 older jets is impressive, but a fleet of 500 fully upgraded "digital" fighters is what actually keeps the generals up at night.
What you should do next:
If you're following defense trends, keep a close eye on the Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal expected later this year. That will reveal if the 2026 "dip" in F-35 orders was a permanent shift toward 6th-gen fighters or just a temporary pause to let the software catch up with the hardware. Also, watch the "Mission Capable" rates; if the US can't get more than 60% of its current 700 jets in the air, buying more won't solve the underlying readiness crisis.