F-35As to come late but with upgrades

The US manufacturer of the F-35A stealth fighters – Lockheed Martin – has halted deliveries of the aircraft to the RAAF until new software to support fleet upgrades can be certified.

The US manufacturer of the F-35A stealth fighter – Lockheed Martin – has halted deliveries of the aircraft to the RAAF until new software to support fleet upgrades can be certified. Picture: Nigel Pittaway

While final operational capability (FOC) for its fifth-generation F-35A stealth fighters will now be delayed until well into 2024, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is looking forward to fleet upgrades that will deliver greatly enhanced capability.

The FOC milestone had been planned for the end of 2023 and one of the prerequisites is the delivery of all 72 aircraft the RAAF has on order. However, citing “a variety of reasons”, Lockheed Martin – the US manufacturer of the F-35 – has halted deliveries until new software to support the upgrades can be certified.

This certification work is currently under way at the US Air Force’s flight test centre at Edwards Air Force Base in California and the US Navy’s facility at Patuxent River in Maryland.

Australia has accepted 63 of its 72 aircraft, but the remaining aircraft are being completed to Tech Refresh 3 (TR3) standard and, while production continues at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Fort Worth, Texas, these aircraft will now not be delivered until next year.

“It’s a complicated process,” Steve Over, Lockheed Martin’s director of international F-35 business, says.

“We’re putting the software into flight test; we’re qualifying it, (and) finding things that customers don’t like about the performance or the way things are working and then we’re correcting them and going back to flight test. A kind of ‘wash, rinse and repeat’ process.”

The F-35As already delivered to the RAAF are earlier TR2/Block 3 software jets and these will be brought up to the latest configuration in due course.

Over says the aim is to complete a tech refresh every 10 years or so, to ensure the F-35s remain at the cutting edge of capability.

‘Every sensor on the airplane is being significantly enhanced’

– Steve Over, International F-35 business director, Lockheed Martin

The TR3 configuration is a hardware and software upgrade that provides a new “backbone” for the F-35’s mission systems, including a new core processor and Enhanced Memory Unit. The refresh will allow the F-35 to effectively host the next iteration of software, known as Block 4. These aircraft are being completed in the current Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Lot 15, which will also feature enhanced sensors and weapons.

“TR3 is the hardware baseline that enables the installation of Block 4 capabilities. It is a major step in the F-35 program and is undergoing initial testing in the US,” an Australian Defence spokesman says.

“Block 4 capability upgrades are planned in Australia from 2025. These will enhance the Australian Defence Force’s ability to conduct long-range strike and electronic warfare missions, which will include advanced communications to improve interoperability with partners.”

Over says the US is investing more than $US1.4bn ($2.2bn) on the Block 4 upgrade.

“Essentially every sensor on the airplane is being significantly enhanced, we have a next-­generation Distributed Aperture System (and) over the course of the next few years, the electronic warfare system is going to be enormously enhanced in performance and bandwidth,” Over says.

“There is also a new radar coming, with the current Northrop Grumman APG-81 being replaced by the APG-85.”

The RAAF achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with the F-35A in December 2020 and since then it has continued to analyse the performance of the fleet and support systems as it works towards FOC.

“Training of personnel across all professional fields is ongoing and necessary for the full maturation of the F-35A capability,” the Defence spokesman explains.

“The delivery of nine remaining F-35As Australia has committed to is required prior to FOC.”

In the meantime, the Australian fleet has notched up significant milestones, including the successful completion of the first Air Warfare Instructors Course (AWIC) in 2022 and participation in a number of exercises in the region – notably in Japan (Exercise Bushido Guardian) and Indonesia (Elang AUSINDO).

“The high level of exercise activity in Australia and overseas highlights the F-35A force’s growth and increasing maturity of support systems and workforce,” the spokesman says.

According to the latest figures released by Defence, Australian industry has also benefited from the F-35 program to the tune of $3.7bn, with more than 70 local companies winning global production and sustainment contracts.

“That’s something we work hard at maintaining and sustaining and providing those opportunities to Australian industry and we’re super proud that they’re part of our team,” Lockheed’s Over says.