WASHINGTON — For months, newly built F-35 Joint Strike Fighters have languished at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Price, Texas, awaiting the completion of a key upgrade that has stalled deliveries.
In 2024, the Pentagon and Lockheed hope that overdue modernization dubbed Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3, shall be finished, allowing the federal government to simply accept these latest F-35s.
The jet’s TR-3 improvements include higher displays, computer memory and processing power. They may lay the inspiration for a more extensive upgrade, called Block 4, that can bring greater weapons capability in addition to improved electronic warfare and goal recognition capabilities.
But persistent software troubles, including problems integrating it into the brand new TR-3 hardware, has stalled its completion. Originally, TR-3 upgrades were speculated to be ready in April 2023, but that deadline has repeatedly slipped and is now expected sometime between April and June 2024.
Latest F-35s equipped with TR-3 hardware began rolling off Lockheed’s production line in late July, but the federal government refused to simply accept their deliveries since they may not fly through the vital acceptance flights. Since then, Lockheed Martin has stored an undisclosed variety of F-35s at Fort Price.
The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office in November said it’s on the lookout for a solution to resume acceptance flights for the brand new fighters and deliveries before TR-3 is totally finished. That might involve a technique of loading early, but incomplete, versions of the TR-3 software into recent F-35s. The interim software would probably need upgrades down the road to get the remainder of its capabilities, the Joint Program Office said.
In mid-November, a handful of production F-35s with interim TR-3 software flew for the primary time at Fort Price, Lockheed confirmed.
Top Air Force officials said on the Defense News Conference in September that the stalled deliveries could mean some units — that are within the means of transitioning from other aircraft — need to wait longer for promised F-35s.
That might have a cascading effect that hurts the Air Force’s ability to administer its forces worldwide, Air Combat Command head Gen. Mark Kelly said on the conference.
“When a unit converts to a brand new airplane, often by the point they get their last airplane, the clock starts and so they must be able to go a yr or so later,” Kelly said in September. “That may delay and can impact … global force management.”
The Pentagon early in 2024 can be expected make a choice — itself years behind schedule — that formally moves the F-35 to full-rate production. Nonetheless, since Lockheed is already constructing the fighter at almost full capability, this milestone C decision will likely have a minimal effect on production.
The F-35 program in September finished a series of tests within the Joint Simulation Environment to gather data needed for the Pentagon to make that call. The JSE tests put all three versions of the aircraft through several scenarios — including cruise missile defense, air interdiction, counter-air, and destruction of enemy air defense trials — designed to emulate what the fighter would likely encounter in combat.
And in early 2024, Pratt & Whitney is predicted to receive the primary in a series of sole-source contracts to upgrade the F-35′s existing F135 engines under the Engine Core Upgrade program. The engine upgrades are intended to provide the F-35 more power and cooling ability so it may well handle the needs of its Block 4 modernization.
Pratt said deliveries for this system are expected to start out in early 2029, although that schedule might be pushed as much as late 2028.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.