Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet thinks completing flight testing of the F-35 Tech Refresh-3 by the middle of 2024 is "manageable," saying the complex changes are taking time because the technologies are comparable to those in driverless cars and autonomous aircraft.
The first U-2 equipped with the Avionics Tech Refresh has flown, setting the stage for a test program and deployment that should carry the U-2 through its retirement.
The Department of the Defense and the military services want to take more control over the massive F-35 sustainment enterprise—and are required by law to do so in 2027—but they lack a detailed plan to do so and should reassess their approach to key parts ...
More delay may be in store for the TR-3 update of the F-35 fighter, program executive officer Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt told Air & Space Forces Magazine. Test resources, software lab capacity, and too much concurrency have put the effort at least two years behind ...
The first F-35s with the Tech Refresh-3 upgrade—largely a processor upgrade upon which the Block 4 configuration of the fighter will ride—will be delivered before the middle of next year, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said Sept. 6. But that will have an impact on Air ...
The Space Development Agency successfully launched 13 small satellites into orbit Sept. 2, more than doubling the size of “Tranche 0” of its planned constellation in low-Earth orbit. And while it only took three years from contract award to launch for this latest batch—breakneck speed by ...
Lockheed Martin, Romania, and the Netherlands have agreed to set up an F-16 training facility in Romania. Although intended at first for training Romanian fighter pilots, the facility could later play host to other countries’ F-16 pilots, including Ukraine.
Nearly five months after the Space Development Agency celebrated the first launch of its massive planned satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit, the organization is set for their second go-around Aug. 31. Thirteen satellites from Tranche 0 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture are slated to head ...
The Navy, which awards all F-35 contracts, has awarded deals to Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney for just over $1 billion, covering long-lead parts, F-35 helmets, and F135 engines.
The low-drag, stealthy fuel tanks and pylons Lockheed Martin is developing for the F-22 are potentially applicable to other aircraft like the F-35, the head of Lockheed’s Integrated Fighter Group told Air & Space Forces Magazine. Lockheed executive O.J. Sanchez and the Air Force’s director ...
Increasing F-35 orders have raised questions about the capacity of the industrial base to keep up with demand, which could outstrip the planned peak output of the Lockheed Martin-made stealth fighter. Israel announced a fresh order for F-35s on July 2, saying it will buy ...
The F-35 Joint Program Office is sticking by its endorsement of Pratt & Whitney’s Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) for the F135 powerplant, saying the improvement will meet all the fighter’s future needs for power. But it declined to weigh in on the increasingly combative war ...
