Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning and F-22 'Raptor' : News & Discussion

Picdelamirand-oil said:

F-35 to get new software this summer—but there’s no date yet for planned full upgrade​

Lockheed is hoping to wring out problems this year as the new administration revisits purchase plan.

AURORA, Colo.—Lockheed Martin is aiming to release new software to U.S. F-35 jets this summer, a “step” towards the full, combat-ready version of the TR-3 upgrade, according to a company executive.

“It's really the customer's assessment of those capabilities and whether or not they approve those for what they call full combat capable delivery,” said Greg Ulmer, head of Lockheed aeronautics. “There are some things that I think we will continue to work on to get to what I would call full combat capable.”

The new suite, called Technology Refresh-3 is a software and hardware upgrade needed for Block 4 improvements. It was initially slated for completion in April 2023, but software-development problems have delayed the effort multiple times, and Lockheed execs and Pentagon officials haven't set a firm delivery date for the full package.

Lockheed is about “98-percent complete” in delivering the TR-3 capability, but still has work to do on some classified parts of the upgrade, Ulmer told Defense One on the sidelines of the AFA Warfare Symposium here.

Software development has been a thorny issue for the F-35 program, with software instability affecting the jet’s performance. Those problems and delays prompted the Pentagon to suspend acceptance of new F-35s for a year, a hiatus that ended in July.

Ulmer said that the TR-3 software flying in the fleet now is “very strong” and more stable than the initial TR-2 software.

As Lockheed finishes developing TR-3 and begins rolling out Block 4 capabilities, the company is “moving out with a lot more resources,” he said. The company is spending $350 million to improve its software lab—part of a deal Lockheed struck with the Pentagon to recover funds withheld for jets delivered without the full TR-3 capability.

The company is improving collaboration with key subcontractors on the program—Raytheon, Northtrop Grumman, and BAE—by sharing digital-twin models to fix problems before they get the hardware, Ulmer said.

“The amount of integration work that we're doing, before we ever get the hardware, is multiple times improved from the past experience of the F-35. So we're moving discovery from the left to the right in that experience,” he said.

As Lockheed works on future upgrades for the jet, the company is waiting to see whether the new administration reduces planned purchases. The Pentagon’s plans to reallocate 8 percent of the next five years’ budgets to fund other initiatives—coupled with criticism of the F-35 by White House adviser Elon Musk—could have serious implications for future orders.

Lockheed’s factories are positioned to build 156 jets per year, and if the total buy is cut, it will affect the price of the jet, Ulmer said: “It’s simple economics.” The company would try to fill any gaps with international orders, but it depends on timing and what kind of variant, he said.

“We're looking to keep that rate up as high as we can in order to sustain that economic order quantity. So the trade really is, what reduction, what kind of impact would that be to that economic order quantity? And then we'll inform our customer, ‘Hey, if we reduce the quantities by such and such, we'll have an ability to insert some international aircraft depending on those orders and the variant that they order, here's how that plays [out].’ So it's a pretty large equation, but we'll have to do the analysis as the numbers come through,” Ulmer said.

The future of Europe’s F-35 fleets may be affected by President Donald Trump’s retreat from the continent and European nations’ efforts to beef up their own industrial base and reduce dependence on the United States.

Ulmer said European nations still want the F-35, thanks in part to its interoperability across allied fleets and its capability as an information hub in the sky.

But if the U.S. continues to pull back from Europe—and alters the amount of information shared with allies—the impact on the F-35 program remains to be seen.

“That's really a government question you have to ask,” Ulmer said.
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The F-35 has essentially penetrated the European market almost entirely.

Who else is left? Small countries in the Balkans and the Baltics, some late bloomers like Portugal?

Only Spain has maintained some European loyalty.
 
randomradio said:
The F-35 has essentially penetrated the European market almost entirely.

Who else is left? Small countries in the Balkans and the Baltics, some late bloomers like Portugal?

Only Spain has maintained some European loyalty.
Click to expand...
This could be a criterion for extending our nuclear umbrella: extension only for those who have not bought an F-35.:ROFLMAO:
 
Hydra said:
You need to fight an enemy having 6000 hydrogen bombs, and countless tactical nukes, and howmany nuke u have to defend Europe from Russia?
Click to expand...
The French do have decent nukes. It's the brits who are dependent entirely on american nukes for their nuclear delivery response which is the funniest ting
 
Lolwa said:
The French do have decent nukes. It's the brits who are dependent entirely on american nukes for their nuclear delivery response which is the funniest ting
Click to expand...
Its, less than 300 nukes. Its enough for France, but not enough for entire Europe
 
Picdelamirand-oil said:
France's deterrent is calculated to kill 80 million people. For a country with a population of 143.8 million, that's something to take into account.
Click to expand...
That's not what deterrent is, its about vaporisin the enemy fully, US can do that to Russia or china ,China can do that to India, india can do that to pak, Russia can do that to Europe for sure, and probably to US.
France or UK can't do that to Europe, India cannot do that China i fear, Pak cannot do that to India.
 
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Nothing on the table for IAF :

No F-35 offer from US on the table so far, says IAF chief​


ByHT Correspondent

Mar 09, 2025 07:02 AM IST





Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said the IAF will analyse the recommendations of a top government committee on capability enhancement of the IAF to chart out a road map.​


NEW DELHI India has not looked at the F-35 option, and no offer has been made by the US so far, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said on Saturday, pointing out that buying a fighter plane was not the same as “buying a washing machine or refrigerator”.

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said the IAF will analyse the recommendations of a top government committee on capability enhancement of the IAF to chart out a road map. (ANI PHOTO)

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said the IAF will analyse the recommendations of a top government committee on capability enhancement of the IAF to chart out a road map. (ANI PHOTO)

“We have not looked at it [F-35]. We are not going to buy a washing machine or a refrigerator for home that we can just say let’s buy this or that as it looks good...We must analyse an aircraft fully, see what the requirements are and what comes along with it. We have not given it a thought. No offer has been made till now,” Singh said, speaking at the India Today conclave.

In February, US President Donald Trump said America was paving the way to provide India the F-35 stealth fighters. The statement came during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the US. It came at a time when India is firmly pushing ahead with an ambitious plan to develop an indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter, or the advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA), Russia has offered to jointly produce its Su-57 stealth fighter in the country, and the Indian Air Force is scouting for 114 multi-role fighter aircraft.

Singh said the IAF will analyse the recommendations of a top government committee on capability enhancement of the IAF to chart out a road map.

Defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh presented the report of the empowered committee to defence minister Rajnath Singh on March 3, days after the IAF chief admitted that the air force was “very badly off in numbers”, adding that it must induct 40 fighter jets every year to stay combat ready.

The report has recommended a raft of short and long-term measures to boost the capabilities of the IAF, which is grappling with a shortage of fighter squadrons, and pointed out that it was critical to enhance self-reliance in the aerospace sector through increased participation of the private sector to fill critical gaps.

“We need to accelerate the process [of indigenisation]. Our processes are a little slow. And we need to be ready for failures. In research and development, if you are not ready for failures, you will never succeed in time. If you try something and you are not succeeding, change your track quickly,” the air chief said.

In February, the IAF chief questioned the ability of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to meet the air force’s critical requirements in the backdrop of a lingering delay in the supply of the new light combat aircraft (LCA-Mk-1A), saying he had “no confidence” in the plane maker. The remarks, made during an interaction with HAL officials, were recorded by someone.

“This is ridiculous... Somebody is sneaking into what you are talking about privately. It is wrong. I was talking to my colleagues from HAL... We have trained together. My intention was to get to their conscience --- you are sitting here, and you must push yourself to reach there. The way it came out was not right...It was a friendly chat with test crew and engineers who I have worked with,” the IAF chief said on Saturday.
 
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