An F-35A takes flight above the Mojave Desert in California on Janu. 6, 2023. A developmental test team from the 461st Flight Test Squadron conducted the first flight of an F-35 in the Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) configuration at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (F-35 Joint Program Office )
WASHINGTON — The first deliveries of upgraded F-35s — which will have advanced software expected to dramatically increase the fighter jet’s combat power — will be delayed by at least a few months, officials said Wednesday.
The Pentagon and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin have been working on the TR-3 upgrade, which is short for Tech Refresh 3 — an advanced software system that gives the fighter jets more combat weapons capability and electronic warfare advancements. The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office said there have been challenges with testing the TR-3 software in flight.
“Given remaining risk in the TR-3 program, we have updated our forecast for the first delivery of a TR-3 configured F-35 to the time frame between April 2024 through June 2024,” the office said.
Company and defense officials previously said the first TR-3 deliveries could begin in December 2023.
The F-35 is the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons system, and hundreds of the fighter jets have been delivered to the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps — as well as allied nations such as Israel and South Korea — over the past eight years. According to a Government Accountability Office report this year, it will cost nearly $1.7 trillion to buy, operate and sustain the planes over the program’s lifetime, which is expected to run into the 2080s.
The program has seen numerous cost overruns and delays since it began. Lockheed Martin said Wednesday that deliveries of other F-35s, without the TR-3 upgrade, also are being affected. Previously, the company said it expected to make more than 100 deliveries in 2023.
“We now expect to deliver 97 aircraft in 2023 (all in the TR-2 configuration),” Lockheed Martin said. “The number of 2024 F-35 deliveries will depend on when the first TR-3 aircraft is delivered, and the time needed to complete the customer’s acceptance process.”
The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office, which oversees all aspects of the fighter jet, acknowledged the delay but said the TR-3 program has come a long way over the last six months.
“Since our testimony to Congress in March 2023, we have made significant progress in the TR-3 program but have also experienced challenges with TR-3 software maturity during flight test,” the program office said. “TR-3 provides the computational horsepower that ensures the F-35 remains superior to adversaries for decades to come.”
The F-35 is the second fifth-generation fighter jet to enter U.S. military service after the F-22 Raptor, which is also manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The first TR-3 version of the F-35 made its first flight in January at Edwards Air Force Base in California — which military officials called a “significant achievement” for the program.
“There is still a lot of work to do, and I am confident that our industry partners and government team will get the job done,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, the F-35 office’s program executive officer, said at the time.
