F-35 head warns future upgrades at risk, production shutdown possible

WASHINGTON — The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is going through “important challenges” on its future weapons and different functionality upgrades that, if delayed, might result in a manufacturing shutdown, the officer in control of this system instructed lawmakers this week.

F-35 program govt officer Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt stated in written testimony to the Home Armed Providers subcommittee on tactical air and land forces that the improve referred to as Block 4 has had appreciable points associated to the maturity of its {hardware} design, and timelines for integrating its software program.

Block 4 upgrades — supposed to permit the F-35 to hold extra weapons, higher acknowledge targets, and enhance its digital warfare capabilities, amongst different options — are additionally going through severe concurrency issues, Schmidt stated in written testimony. Concurrency happens when a system strikes via growth and into procurement on the identical time, which makes it more durable to repair issues found in testing.

“Improvement and manufacturing concurrency is Block 4′s most important problem, and we’re coping with its penalties at the moment,” Schmidt stated. “The F-35 [Joint Program Office], Lockheed Martin, and different trade companions have recognized excessive threat concurrency within the F-35 Block 4 schedule, which might threaten to close down plane manufacturing if growth slips.”

In an announcement to Protection Information, Lockheed Martin stated some Block 4 capabilities have already been delivered, beginning in 2019, years forward of schedule. These already-delivered capabilities, which don’t require TR-3 to work, embody the F-35′s Automated Floor Collision Avoidance System, or Auto GCAS, the Navy’s Joint Standoff Weapon variant referred to as C-1, and the power to assault shifting targets on the bottom utilizing laser-guided GBU-49 bombs.

Lockheed additionally stated Block 4 {hardware} and software program elements are in several levels of growth, and shall be delivered incrementally as contracts are awarded and growth on these parts is completed. In its response, Lockheed didn’t handle Schmidt’s feedback a couple of potential manufacturing shutdown if Block 4 growth is additional delayed.

The F-35 program can be struggling to area one other sequence of enhancements, referred to as Know-how Refresh 3, that may be a prerequisite for main parts of the Block 4 upgrades. Schmidt’s feedback on Block 4 present that a number of F-35 modernization efforts are going through main headwinds, which might have ripple results on this system for years.

Software program issues have delayed TR-3, which was initially meant to be prepared in April 2023, however now might be completed no less than a 12 months late. Schmidt stated at Tuesday’s listening to sluggish manufacturing of some key elements for TR-3 has additionally held up the bodily completion of some new jets at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Price, Texas. The federal government will not be accepting newly constructed F-35s supposed to have TR-3 put in, as a result of it can’t perform the mandatory verify flights.

Jon Ludwigson, director of contracting and nationwide safety acquisitions on the Authorities Accountability Workplace, stated on the listening to the F-35 program’s plans for Block 4 have grown over time as necessities for the jet have developed. Block 4′s anticipated prices have additionally grown, and it has slipped not on time, he stated.

Block 4 was initially meant so as to add 66 new capabilities at a price of $10.6 billion by 2026, Ludwigson stated. That has swelled to 80 capabilities costing $16.5 billion, he stated, and now isn’t anticipated to be executed till 2029.

Ludwigson acknowledged software program growth is tough, but additionally pinned a few of the issues with Block 4 on this system not setting reasonable expectations on how lengthy it will take to develop the upgrades.

“A few of the challenges which have emerged [with Block 4] is as a result of they didn’t have necessities, they didn’t essentially have a agency sense of what was technically achievable,” Ludwigson stated. “They didn’t have a powerful foundation for understanding how lengthy these items have been going to take. It grew to become a little bit of a journey of discovery and took time for them to determine.”

Schmidt stated this system is targeted on eliminating the concurrency issues and setting a sensible supply schedule.

Invoice LaPlante, undersecretary of protection for acquisition and sustainment, ordered a technical baseline evaluation on Block 4′s growth earlier this 12 months, Schmidt stated. And specialists from the Navy and Air Power have been evaluating Block 4′s growth schedule, {hardware} maturity, program dangers, software program instruments, and the abilities within the authorities and trade workforces.

The Pentagon additionally awarded a contract on Block 4 earlier this 12 months that focuses on lowering the dangers of concurrency, he stated, together with setting milestones for finishing up an intensive evaluation of Block 4′s {hardware} and software program readiness to be folded into future manufacturing plenty of F-35s.

Schmidt additionally stated this system wants 9 flight sciences plane, or F-35s specifically configured to check and consider modernizations resembling Block 4. This system now has the sources to transform three manufacturing F-35s into the take a look at jets it wants, Schmidt stated. However it must convert six extra to fulfill its necessities, and that can require congressional authorization.

“The F-35 program should make investments in flight sciences plane and software program labs at Lockheed Martin and all through provider areas to get probably the most operational functionality out of the F-35 weapons system,” Schmidt stated.