(Editor's Note: This story has been updated with a statement from an F-35 joint program office spokesman.)
Lockheed Martin may not deliver F-35 Joint Strike Fighters enabled with Technology Refresh 3 until the third quarter of this calendar year, CEO Jim Taiclet said today.
While Lockheed is still aiming for a second-quarter delivery of the updated jets -- which was already a delay from the initially expected delivery at the end of 2023 -- a further delay “may be a more likely scenario,” Taiclet said during the company’s year-end earnings call.
“We are taking the time and attention to get this technology insertion right the first time because it is absolutely worth it,” he said.
The system maturation process is advancing, Taiclet said, but is taking longer than anticipated. About 90% of the TR-3 functions are currently in flight testing.
The Defense Department halted acquisition of F-35s last year until Lockheed can produce jets integrated with TR-3. Lockheed in September updated its timeline to say the first delivery could be expected between April and June of this year.
To get new jets to the warfighter, joint program office spokesman Russ Goemaere said DOD may accept deliveries of the F-35 sooner.
“We are exploring a truncation plan with the services and our partners to accept aircraft ahead of full validation of TR-3 capabilities,” Goemaere told Inside Defense. “Any aircraft involved and delivered as part of the truncation plan will provide valuable capability to the warfighters while TR-3 completes final verification and validation.”
One reason for the delays, Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt told lawmakers last month, is the failure of the labs to accurately replicate the operational systems, which has led to “too much discovery happening in flight test.”
Delivering the anticipated 75 to 110 F-35s this year “requires the TR-3 hardware suppliers to keep pace with production demands both this year and in the future,” he said.
Even with the TR-3 delays, Taiclet said Lockheed will keep pushing to the production rate of 156 jets per year as demand continues from the U.S. and through foreign sales.
More transparency is needed within industry and with the government to acknowledge when shortfalls are likely, according to Taiclet.
“We have to be brutally honest -- as an industry and with our suppliers’ inputs to that -- with the government and say what is feasible to keep the production rate up,” he said, adding: “We cannot be over optimistic in the ability to deliver these technologies as rapidly as one might like.”