The Pentagon’s fleet of F-35 fighter jets may not receive the full, combat-ready version of the TR-3 upgrade this year, Lockheed Martin executives acknowledged today.
The upgrade, formally called Technology Refresh-3, was originally supposed to be ready in April 2023, but software-development problems have delayed the effort multiple times. Those delays drove the Pentagon to halt acceptance of new F-35s for a year, a pause that ended in July. The upgrade will equip the jets with the extra computing power needed for Block 4 improvements to sensors and weapons.
neither the F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed were able to provide a firm delivery date.
In the meantime, the Pentagon will continue to receive TR-3 jets with a “truncated” version of the package until the full, combat-capable version is ready.
A case of: “It’s too hard as we over promised.” methinks.
Lockheed Martin on Tuesday forecast it will make less profit than expected in 2025, as the top U.S. defense company grapples with the delayed rollout of upgrades to the F-35 fighter jet that are vital to its bottom line.
Shares of the company fell about 8.2% in premarket trading after the company told investors of new financial losses on classified programs and said the F-35 jet software problems dogging the company may last into 2026. Shares were last down 7.6% on the day.
The F-35 is the most expensive U.S. defense program and easily Lockheed’s biggest revenue generator, contributing about 30%.
I believe the US government should refuse payment and delivery of the faulty aircraft until LMT can solve the problem.
The CEO of the world’s largest weapons company, Lockheed Martin, and the manufacturer of the U.S. military’s most expensive weapon system, the F-35 stealth fighter jet, told investors on Tuesday that Israel’s attack on Iran’s air defenses last October helped to "demonstrate [the F-35’s] value here, through the Israel experience.”
Dan Grazier, a senior fellow and program director at the Stimson Center, flagged that Taiclet may be engaged in sleight of hand by touting the effectiveness of the Israeli variant of the F-35, known as the Adir, and the American variant used everywhere else in the world, in his earnings call claims.
“I don’t know that it’s even a valid comparison between the F-35 Adir and an American F-35s. They’re different platforms,” said Grazier. “The Israelis got a special dispensation that no other partner or customer in the program has. The Israelis worked out some arrangement where they have control over the key data rights in the aircraft so they can modify the F-35 in ways that no one else can. It’s different from everyone else’s F-35.”
Grazier also added that uncertainty about the use of F-35s in the attack on Iran’s air defenses calls into question Lockheed’s assertions
“If the Israelis were able to destroy Iranian air defence systems but they did it with standoff munitions, then it raises the questions: Did it have to be done with an F-35?,” asked Grazier. “I’d be much more impressed if they said the F-35s flew directly over Iran and destroyed their targets at close range but if they destroyed air defense targets from a standoff range, then I want to know why they needed a stealth aircraft.”
A central critique of the F-35 program is that despite its cost the planes have an extremely low readiness rate. In April, officials acknowledged that the U.S. F-35s are only “mission capable” 55.7% of the time. Grazier says that lack of readiness was on full display in April when the U.S. military played a central role in combating a massive Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel but didn’t send F-35s.
“During that big attack by Iran on Israel, the U.S. didn’t send any F-35s. We sent F-15s. Why didn’t we use F-35s to defend against the Iranian attack?” he asked.