Chris Bogdan

Lockheed Martin Corp and the Pentagon missed their end-of-March target for reaching agreement on $15 billion in new F-35 fighter jets, but should complete work on the contracts in April, according to sources familiar with the matter.

"We're closer now than we were at the beginning of the month," said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Lockheed Martin Corp met its goal of delivering 45 F-35 fighter jets to the U.S. government and key allies in 2015, a 25 percent increase from 2014 that brought the number of jets delivered to 154, the Pentagon said on Dec. 21.

The Pentagon on Dec. 12 said Italy and Turkey would provide initial heavy maintenance of Lockheed Martin Corp's new F-35 fighter jet and its engine in Europe from 2018, paving the way for billions of dollars in work by companies there.