Lockheed Martin is reportedly facing a significant reduction in Pentagon orders of its F-35 fighter jets that are assembled in Fort Worth.

The Biden administration is considering an 18% cut in the government’s F-35 orders for the fiscal year that starts in 2025 after Congress placed a limit on defense spending, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The reduction from an initial order of 83 jets to perhaps fewer than 70 would mean a $1.6 billion hit for Lockheed Martin, Reuters reported.

The aerospace defense contractor earns about a quarter of its revenue from its F-35 production program, the report says.

Lockheed Martin’s shares fell 2.3% after the Reuters report.

The defense budget has not been finalized and is not anticipated to be released for another month, leaving room for the Biden administration to adjust the exact number of jets to be ordered. But a source familiar with the matter told a Washington bureau reporter for McClatchy, the parent company of the Star-Telegram, that caps on spending mandated by Congress had forced the White House to search for cuts.

Lockheed is the largest private employer in Tarrant County with nearly 19,000 workers in 2023, though that number fluctuates. About two weeks ago, Lockheed announced that 300 employees within its aeronautics division would be laid off, including 200 workers at the Fort Worth F-35 assembly plant.

The company employs 122,000 people worldwide.

Lockheed’s F-35 program has faced challenges with rising costs, as a recent legal dispute with one of its suppliers has brought into light. Lockheed has challenged Pittsburgh-based Howmet Aerospace over its raising of prices for titanium materials that the subcontractor supplies for the F-35s.

Howmet said raising its titanium prices was an economic necessity due to skyrocketing costs for the material. Lockheed has characterized the move as a contract breach.

McClatchy reporter Michael Wilner contributed to this story from Washington.