A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II from the F-35A Lightning II Demo Team conducts an air show practice performance at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Caitlin Elgish)
Technology Refresh 3 is the foundation for the Block 4 upgrades needed for new weapons, sensors, data processing and targeting capabilities.
The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) and Lockheed Martin announced the delivery of the first two F-35 aircraft in the TR-3 Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) configuration on July 19, 2024. One F-35A Lightning II was delivered to Dannelly Field, Alabama, and the other to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
“We have begun a phased approach to deliveries of our TR-3 F-35 aircraft,” said Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, program executive officer for the JPO. “In the first phase, we will deliver jets with initial training capability in July and August. By the end of August, we will deliver jets with robust combat training capability, working towards delivery of full TR-3 combat capability in 2025. We are focused on providing our customers with aircraft that excel in stability, performance and maintainability, and this phased approach will accomplish that.”
The deliveries come after a full year of delays due to hardware and software issues with the TR-3, which Pentagon officials have described as the “backbone” of the Block 4 upgrade, which provides additional computing power and is needed for new weapons, sensors, data processing, and target acquisition and identification capabilities.
Several jets have been piling up at Lockheed Martin facilities and have been facing major delays since deliveries were halted in July 2023. The TR-3 was supposed to be ready by April 2023, but the upgrade has run $1 billion over budget.
An F-35A Lightning II from the F-35A Lightning II Demo Team performs at the Aerospace Innovation and Leadership Exhibition in Berlin, June 8, 2024. (Image credit: USAF/Staff Sgt. Zachary Rufus)
Lockheed Martin announced the development of the X, saying: “We recently began deliveries of F-35s in the TR-3 configuration. These upgraded aircraft include combat training capabilities and represent an important step toward achieving full operational capability.”
We recently began taking deliveries of TR-3 spec F-35s, and these early upgraded aircraft are equipped with combat training capabilities, marking a key step towards full operational capability. pic.twitter.com/VWMvWFV761
— F-35 Lightning II (@thef35) July 19, 2024
A long-awaited upgrade
According to the JPO, the newly delivered aircraft are following standard government approval procedures, including final airworthiness certification and checkout flights. “TR-3 and Block 4 represent a significant evolution in capability, and their full development is our top priority,” said Bridget Lauderdale, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program.
“These and further software updates over the life of the program will ensure that the F-35 remains an effective deterrent and keystone of all-domain joint operations, now and for decades to come.”
“I am extremely proud of the tremendous effort that our government and industry teams have put into delivering the TR-3 F-35,” Schmidt added. “This is an important first step, and while much work remains, I am confident that our teams will work tirelessly to achieve the desired and necessary outcomes that our Warfighters, allies and customers require.”
The F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin announced that deliveries of the first Technology Renewal 3 (TR-3) configured F-35 Lightning II began July 19. Two F-35A Lightning IIs have been delivered, one to Dannelly Field and the other to Nellis Air Force Base. https://t.co/9RHf22Og9w pic.twitter.com/Qh7wYWkjCO
— Ryan Chan 陳家翹 (@ryankakiuchan) July 20, 2024
Problematic Software
Since July 2023, the Department of Defense has stopped accepting new F-35 jets due to issues with the F-35’s hardware and TR-3 software coding. Specifically, there was an issue with the TR-3 software not being able to support the F-35’s radar and electronic warfare systems. A May 2024 GAO (Government Accountability Office) report claimed that some test pilots had to reboot the radar and electronic warfare systems mid-flight.
“Program officials said restart problems were common with early versions of software for radar and on-board systems,” GAO said. “But after nearly a year of delays, the TR-3’s software remains unstable, according to test officials.”
This latest delivery is in line with Lockheed Martin’s September 2023 SEC filing, which said at the time that the company expected to “deliver its first TR-3 jets between April and June 2024.”
An F-35A Lightning II from the 495th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath in the UK departs for a training flight. (Image courtesy of the F-35 Joint Program Office)
Compact version
The issue caused the Pentagon to halt deliveries before certain tests were completed. Subsequent reports said the F-35 JPO, Lockheed Martin, and the Pentagon were working on a plan for the Pentagon to accept F-35s equipped with an interim version of TR-3 with reliable and maintainable software.
The “shortened version” would provide a fraction of the capabilities, and the Pentagon calculated that some of the upgrades relevant to today’s demanding, high-tech warfare scenarios, ahead of peer competitors, are better than nothing.
An integrated core processor developed by L3Harris is at the heart of this upgrade, dramatically increasing the speed of data processing and sensor fusion, helping to improve decision-making and pilot assistance during complex and dangerous missions. The TR-3 upgrade also includes newer, larger displays.
Breaking Defense reported that this “interim software fix” has allowed the delivery of the two F-35As and the Pentagon to receive the new aircraft: “Under the new delivery schedule, the jets will be delivered with interim software that facilitates training, but the delivery of a second set of software that would enable combat capability is unlikely to occur for at least another year.”
An F-35A flying over California’s Mojave Desert, January 6, 2023. The 461st Flight Test Squadron Developmental Test Team conducted the first flight of the F-35 in its Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) configuration at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (Photo courtesy of F-35 JPO)
During the delivery pause, Lockheed continued to produce TR-3-equipped aircraft, but was forced to store them in warehouses. The exact number of aircraft on hold is unclear, but Lockheed officials suggested that as many as 120 planes could be “not delivered” this year. Bloomberg reported in September 2023 that the Defense Department was withholding payments of $7 million per aircraft, and that Lockheed Martin may not receive $800 million in back payments.
Allies and F-35 partners will feel at ease
The resumption of deliveries will be welcomed by the United States, its allies and F-35 partner nations, some of which have rejected the planes because they do not feature the full complement of upgrades. Belgium, for example, in August 2023 rejected two F-35 jets that were scheduled to roll off the assembly line by December of that year.
This was “due to a delayed introduction of new software and screens,” The Brussels Times reported. The Belgian-American contract stipulated that the F-35s be equipped with the latest and most modern configurations.
According to the Belgian Ministry of Defense, the TR-3 and Block 4 will “significantly improve the F-35’s capability to engage today’s modern ground and air threats, both offensive and defensive.”
The Aviationist reported that an F-35A (registration code FL003) built for the Belgian Air Force made its first flight from Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 14, 2024.
Partho Satam has had a 15-year career spanning two daily newspapers and two defense publications. He believes war is a human activity, with causes and consequences that go beyond questions of which missile or jet flies the fastest. As such, he enjoys analyzing military issues at the intersection of foreign policy, economics, technology, society and history. His research spans the full spectrum of defense aerospace, tactics, military doctrine and theory, personnel issues, West Asia, Eurasian affairs, energy sector and space.
