JPO: Rollout of initial F-35 ODIN hardware deployment complete

By Briana Reilly / February 1, 2022 at 11:08 AM

The F-35 Joint Program Office announced this week it has completed its initial rollout of Operational Data Integrated Network hardware, a key step in transitioning away from the notoriously unreliable Autonomic Logistics Information System.

The work, which largely spanned between July 2021 and January 2022, delivered the Lockheed Martin-designed ODIN Base Kits to a dozen sites in the United States and Europe and took place “on schedule, and within budget,” a Jan. 31 JPO release noted.

Marking the completion of the initial phase of deploying the ODIN hardware to F-35 squadrons, the fielding replaces all of ALIS' first-generation unclassified Standard Operating Units with a smaller, lighter and more cheaply procured system, per the release -- servers that are able to run both ALIS software and future ODIN applications.

Still, it’s unclear when the cloud-based ODIN software deliveries will begin. The program had initially anticipated a 2022 timeframe for fielding, but the effort has slowed and a new schedule is underway. This week’s release doesn’t address the status of ODIN software development.

Lt. Gen. Eric Fick, F-35 program executive officer, noted in December that the program’s ongoing work in this realm, which includes defining the integrating data environment and developing the software, represents “an evolution and not the flick of a switch.”

“I don’t have for you the dates on which additional significant milestones in that evolution will be reached,” he said at the time.

Going forward, more OBK units are expected to be delivered this year “as the F-35 program’s global logistics infrastructure continues to expand,” according to the release.

Beyond that, program officials and Lockheed are working on “designing and evaluating improved hardware for classified functions,” design work the release states will be completed by the JPO and begin to be installed “in late 2022.”

In all, 12 U.S. sites and two European bases -- Amendola Air Base, Italy, and Portsmouth Naval Base, UK -- received the initial ODIN hardware upgrades.

The U.S. installations include Nellis Air Force Base, NV; Hill Air Force Base, UT; Eielson Air Force Base, AK; Eglin Air Force Base, FL; Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, SC; and Edwards Air Force Base, CA, where three OBKs were delivered.

Meanwhile, other OBKs support Marine Corps test squadron VMX-1 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ, where the JPO previously conducted more than 30 days of hardware tests, as well as integrated flight test operations at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD.

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