A US Department of Defense contract for the development of an F-35 configuration tailored to an unidentified foreign customer can be linked to Singapore through other US government procurement records, as the country approaches the delivery of its first fighter.
On October 15, the Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin another US$18.8 million under contract N0001922C0015 for “system development, demonstration, and integration efforts” involving an F-35 variant tailored to the requirements of an unspecified Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customer.
The latest modification extends work under the program through December 2030. It is the newest addition to a development effort that began nearly five years ago and has received more than US$130 million through several contract actions.
The customer is not identified in the Pentagon’s contract announcements. Records available through USAspending, however, connect N0001922C0015 directly to Singapore.
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The federal database describes the contract as “Singapore Program Team Support.” More significantly, a US$53.4 million modification awarded in August 2022 is identified as “Singapore Group A Integration.”
That modification corresponds to a Pentagon announcement at the time describing additional work on the F-35 variant for an unnamed FMS customer.
Development began in 2021
The original contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin in December 2021 for US$49.1 million. According to the Pentagon, it covered the “design and development of a Joint Strike Fighter aircraft variant tailored for an unspecified Foreign Military Sales customer.”
Another US$53.4 million followed in August 2022, while Lockheed Martin received an additional US$12.9 million in August 2025.
The latest US$18.8 million award brings a new phase of system development, demonstration and integration work extending well beyond the scheduled delivery of Singapore's first aircraft.
The terminology used in the federal records also provides some indication of the nature of the program, although the equipment involved has not been disclosed.
“Group A” is used in aircraft integration programs for provisions incorporated into the aircraft to accommodate particular equipment or capabilities. F-35 procurement documents elsewhere use terms such as “Group A hardware kits” and “Group A enabler provisions” for hardware and aircraft modifications required to support additional systems.
The reference to “Singapore Group A Integration” therefore indicates that the program involves provisions for Singapore-specific requirements rather than simply the acquisition of standard production aircraft. Public documents do not identify which systems or capabilities are being integrated.
Singapore prepares for first F-35
The timing of the latest award coincides with Singapore's transition from F-35 customer to operator. The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has 20 F-35s on order, comprising 12 short takeoff and vertical landing F-35Bs and eight conventional F-35As.
Singapore initially ordered four F-35Bs in 2020 before exercising an option for another eight. In 2024, the government announced the acquisition of eight F-35As, creating a mixed fleet that will eventually operate alongside the RSAF's F-15SG fighters.
The first Singaporean F-35B is scheduled for delivery by the end of 2026. In September 2025, Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing visited Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth facility and signed the wing of the country's first aircraft while it was undergoing production.
The initial fighters will remain in the United States for training. Singapore plans to establish its F-35 training presence at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas.
Integration work predates deliveries
Singapore has acknowledged that considerable engineering work has taken place behind the acquisition.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), an integrated team from the RSAF and Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) gained access to information and facilities available to F-35 users after the country signed its Letter of Offer and Acceptance in 2020.
The team subsequently conducted technical and engineering discussions with the manufacturer and other F-35 operators to determine how the F-35B would be integrated into the Singapore Armed Forces' warfighting system.
The original US approval for Singapore's F-35B acquisition also included electronic warfare systems, Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence/Communications, Navigation and Identification (C4I/CNI) equipment, weapons employment capability, access to an F-35 reprogramming center and software development and integration.
None of the publicly available documents reviewed by Air Data News establishes which of these capabilities, if any, is connected to the Singapore-specific Group A work.
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Singapore has participated in the F-35 program as a Security Cooperation Participant since 2003, although it did not commit to purchasing the fighter until 2019.
Its choice of the F-35B was driven partly by Singapore's limited territory and the variant's ability to operate with substantially less runway infrastructure. The later addition of the F-35A provides greater internal fuel capacity and payload capability without the weight and space required by the F-35B's lift system.
