Defense suppliers, like Colorado based Primus Aerospace, were all ears when President Joe Biden recently delivered the commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, eager to hear his vision for how the Air Force will play a crucial role in meeting global security challenges and how he plans to support the Air Force in its missions.

President Biden framed the state of geopolitical conflict to the Air Force Academy’s Class of 2023 in his commencement speech by telling them the United States is “seeing proliferating global challenges from Russia’s aggression and brutality in Europe to our competition with China.” For the United States to continue leading the world, Congress must make investments in our armed forces. This is especially true for our Air Force, which according to a recent Mitchell Institute report, “lacks the force capacity, lethality, and survivability needed to fight a major war with China.” Our Air Force needs modern fighter aircraft to maintain the air superiority we’ve controlled in every major conflict throughout the past century. The United States needs more F-35 Lightning II warfighters – our most advanced multi-role fighter.

The F-35 is as much a warfighter as it is a deterrent to conflict with our adversaries. Its unrivaled firepower, agility and maneuverability have halted further Russian encroachment into Europe as NATO F-35s patrol the eastern border near Ukraine. “One of the greatest strengths is our unmatched network of alliances and partners,” President Biden told the Air Force graduates. The F-35 is diplomacy-in-action, fueling shared global deterrence, interoperability, cost-sharing benefits and the rebuilding of alliances as more nations look to the United States to equip them with the fifth-generation fighter.

The foundation of the F-35 program is its supplier base, which spans nearly every U.S. state and brings together the talents of more than 200,000 people working at more than 1,600 companies. Primus Aerospace is a proud member of the supplier network producing critical airframe and radar components for the F-35 and is an equal opportunity employer with operations in Colorado and Maryland. Defense programs like the F-35 have propelled growth at our location in Lakewood, bolstering our team to 100 employees (with additional open machinist positions still open).

Stay up to speed: Sign-up for daily opinion in your inbox Monday-Friday

Growth among companies in the F-35 supply chain, our national security and our alliances all depend on Congress fully funding the F-35 program which contributes $72 billion annually to the U.S. economy. “In every part of the world we’ve advanced our partnerships in concrete ways and strengthened American security,”, President Biden proclaimed to the graduates. Deepening our partnerships to maintain security means producing more F-35 Lightning II warfighters. We are counting on our delegation’s leadership in Congress to support funding the F-35 to full-rate production levels.

Full-rate production would shore up our fleets to keep the United States firmly positioned as the dominant air power in the world and reassure our allies we are committed to their security as much as our own. Additionally, it would spur growth at companies like Primus whose employees depend on the F-35. It goes without saying, but increased numbers of F-35s improves the likelihood of F-35s being stationed at critical institutions like Buckley Space Force Base, which sorely needs a modernized fleet.

The strategic and economic benefits of an F-35 program operating at full-rate production are so overwhelming it’s hard to believe Congress has yet to fund the program appropriately. As the president reminded us in his speech, “our world stands at an inflection point,” where Congress must act now or risk too little too late. Congress must fund the F-35 to full-rate production.

Kyle Brengel is Chief Revenue Officer and VP of Business Development at Primus Aerospace in Lakewood.