WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin’s production of the most recent upgraded F-35 Joint Strike Fighters is slipping further behind schedule, and deliveries likely won’t resume until the third quarter of 2024, the corporate said Tuesday.
Lockheed CEO Jim Taiclet told investors in an earnings call that the business now expects to deliver between 75 and 110 F-35s this yr — fewer than the roughly 150 annually the corporate typically goals to deliver.
The delivery disruption of the latest F-35s, intended to features upgrades often called Technology Refresh 3, means Lockheed’s sales of the jet took a $400 million hit last yr.
Taiclet said the corporate is making progress on the jets enabled with the TR-3 upgrades, which might include software and hardware improvements including higher displays, computer memory and processing power. However the system maturation process “is taking somewhat more time than we originally anticipated,” he added.
“The second quarter customer acceptance of delivery software stays our goal,” he said. “Nevertheless, we now consider that the third quarter could also be a more likely scenario for a TR-3 software acceptance.”
The TR-3 upgrades are needed to arrange the F-35 for an extra wave of upgrades often called Block 4, which might allow the jet to hold more precision weapons, advanced sensing, jamming and cybersecurity capabilities, and more accurate goal recognition. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., worries TR-3 delays could in turn delay the rollout of Block 4 upgrades.
“We’re taking the time and a focus to get this [TR-3] technology insertion right the primary time because it can be absolutely price it,” Taiclet said. TR-3′s features “will provide our customers with the onboard digital infrastructure of information storage, data processing, and pilot-user interface to supply unmatched capabilities for a few years to come back.”
But TR-3, which was originally due in April 2023, has repeatedly slipped behind schedule attributable to software problems and challenges integrating it with the jet’s latest hardware. In July 2023, Lockheed Martin began rolling the primary jets intended for the TR-3 configuration off its production line in Fort Price, Texas.
Because those jets couldn’t undergo test flights the Defense Department requires before delivery, the military refused to simply accept them. Latest aircraft awaiting TR-3 are actually stored at Fort Price, and Lockheed said between 100 and 120 jets could remain there later this yr.
The F-35 Joint Program Office said in a press release to Defense News that it and industry partners are focused on delivering capable fighters, but that delays in software maturity are still putting those deliveries in danger.
The JPO said it and Lockheed are working on a plan to permit the federal government to simply accept undelivered jets before the complete TR-3 capabilities are validated.
“Any aircraft involved and delivered as a part of the truncation plan will provide useful capabilities to the warfighters while TR-3 completes final verification and validation,” the office said.
In November, the office confirmed a production F-35 had flown with an interim version of the TR-3 software installed. Flying jets with such early release versions of the software is “potentially” a technique for deliveries to resume before TR-3 is completed, the JPO said that month.
Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, who leads the F-35 program, told lawmakers in December that production of a number of key components needed for TR-3 hardware also ramped up slower than expected, which is contributing to the delay.
When the Pentagon halted deliveries, it and Lockheed Martin still expected TR-3 to be ready between December and April 2024. But in September 2023, Lockheed and the JPO said TR-3 could take even longer. That revised schedule placed delivery at sometime between April 2024 — which might already be a full yr late — and June 2024.
That schedule is now sliding further, it appears.
Taiclet said greater than 90% of the TR-3 capabilities are actually in flight test, and Lockheed is moving the software integration process forward to incorporate more aircraft and mission subsystems.
Lockheed’s chief financial officer, Jay Malave, said the corporate is confident it will possibly meet the brand new third quarter goal to start delivering TR-3 jets. But when the schedule slips further, he explained, Lockheed would must reconsider its production pace of F-35s and possibly slow it down.
The corporate is bleeding money attributable to the F-35 delivery halt — and the wound doesn’t appear prone to heal soon.
“As we make progress [on the] TR-3 program, in addition to getting ourselves into production, it’s difficult to take risk and depend on risk retirements as we’re still facing this program, and the progress we’re making there,” Malave said. “And so we assume that profit adjustments decelerate in 2024 on the F-35 program.”
Lockheed Martin delivered 98 F-35s within the previous TR-2 configuration in 2023, including 18 within the fourth quarter, Taiclet said. The corporate originally planned to deliver between 147 and 153 fighters last yr.
The delivery halt meant Lockheed’s net F-35 sales for the yr dropped $400 million, partially offsetting the expansion in other areas. Lockheed’s classified Skunk Works unit saw its sales grow by $540 million in 2023, and rising production of F-16s meant its sales grew $230 million for the yr, the corporate said.
Despite the F-35′s troubles, Lockheed’s aeronautics sector saw its sales grow 2% in 2023 to almost $27.5 billion. The aeronautics sector’s 2023 profit ticked down about 1% to $2.8 billion.
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.