US defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced that it has reached an agreement to supply more than 850 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets to the US Department of Defense over the next 10 years.

However, this agreement falls short of a purchase order status. Still, Lockheed Martin considers it a pre-agreed long-term contract, according to Reuters. The transaction requires approval from the US Congress.

Considering that the cheapest model of the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet is priced at $92 million per unit (approximately 120 billion won), Reuters estimated that the scale of this agreement reaches at least $78 billion (approximately 1.092 trillion won).

According to the agreement, Lockheed Martin aims to maintain a production volume of 156 units per year for the US and international customers, and plans to self-invest at least $7 billion in businesses to support the F-35 program, Reuters reported.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]