- Lockheed Martin has begun flying recent F-35s with the TR-3 package installed.
- TR-3 replaces older hardware dating back to the 2000s.
- The result can be a fighter ready for Block 4, an upcoming series of enhancements that may bring recent weapons, hardware, software, and other capabilities.
Lockheed Martin is flying the primary production F-35 fighter jets with the brand new TR-3 hardware and software update in Fort Price, Texas, the U.S. defense contractor told Janes in late November. This marks a progression from the software’s flight debut back in January, when a developmental test team at Edwards Air Force Base in California first flew a TR-3-configured F-35.
Often known as Technology Refresh-3, the update clears the best way for a slew of recent capabilities, referred to as Block 4, which can keep the fighter competitive with other emerging fifth-generation jets. Most F-35s worldwide will get the update, replacing older 2010s-era tech—a key stage within the fighter’s evolutionary timeline.
The Latest “Flying Computer”
The F-35 is commonly called a “flying computer” attributable to its use of a central computer system to manage all features of the aircraft. The pc system handles the radar; the electro-optical surveillance system referred to as the Distributed Aperture System (DAS); pilot interface and avionics; weapons; electronic warfare; and even the engines. Nevertheless, like all computers, the F-35 computing backbone has slowly shown its age, stopping newer, more demanding features from being added.
Technology Refresh 3 is actually a significant hardware and software upgrade for the F-35. It replaces the airplane’s Core Processor—which the U.S. Government Accountability Office describes as “processing data for every mission”—with a new edition that has 16 times the processing power and 4.5 times the memory. TR-3 also replaces the aircraft’s memory system with a new edition that may store 20 times the info.
Probably probably the most visible improvement to pilots can be the Panoramic Cockpit Display—Electronics Unit. Like a Tesla or other luxury electric automobile, the F-35 incorporates an 8-by-20-inch LCD, giving the pilot access to key data and controls in mid-flight. This Panoramic Cockpit Display incorporates a touchscreen and may reportedly withstand a puncture or a crack and still remain usable. The PCD-EU is a hardware update behind the display that reinforces the processing power eight times over and the memory 12 times.
Toward Block 4
TR-3’s increased computing power will set the stage for Block 4, a brand new suite of capabilities for your complete line of F-35 jets. In keeping with Air & Space Forces Magazine, Block 4 is essentially a software upgrade, meant to run on recent TR-3 hardware, that may deliver 53 improvements to the jet. The one expected hardware modifications can be on the weapons bay, to be able to physically accommodate recent weapons, and recent cooling hardware designed to maintain the pc system from overheating. Because of this, the F-35 won’t change its external appearance—an motion that will negatively affect its fastidiously crafted stealth profile.
Block 4 will deliver improvements to each air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The upgrade will increase the performance of the Distributed Aperture System, a set of six infrared cameras positioned in all directions across the F-35, allowing the pilot to “see” through the jet below, and even pick up the telltale launch plume of a close-by ballistic missile on the bottom. The increased computing power advantages the present APG-81 radar system, which allows the F-35 to detect targets within the air, on the bottom, and jam enemy radar systems, but can even allow the installation of the newly developed APG-85 radar destined to interchange the APG-81.
The present F-35 fighter is a bit limited in weapons selection, at the least in comparison with other fighters. Without delay, the F-35 can embark the AIM-9X Sidewinder infrared guided air-to-air missile; the longer-range AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missile; the GBU-31 2,000-pound GPS-guided smart bomb, GBU-32 1,000-pound GPS-guided bomb, and GBU-12 500-pound laser-guided bomb. Particularly, the present version of the F-35 lacks the flexibility to conduct standoff attacks at long ranges.
Block 4 can even let the F-35 carry an entire recent suite of weapons, including the 575-mile range JASSM-ER land attack cruise missile, the Navy’s Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C1 missile, and the Norwegian Joint Strike Missile, a land attack cruise missile based on the Naval Strike Missile. The F-35 can even carry the shorter-range, all-weather GBU-53/B Stormbreaker guided bomb. Block 4 can even add the F-35’s ultimate firepower capability: the flexibility to deploy the B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bomb.
The Takeaway
Unlike its predecessors, the F-35 will undergo planned updates throughout its lifetime, designed to maintain it combat-worthy for the following 30 years. After all, these updates will cost money, nevertheless it’s comforting to know that there’s a plan to maintain America’s $1.7 trillion investment relevant for a long time to return. And, that an F-35 that goes to war in 2040 will go to war with 2040 technology—not 2010 technology.