What happens between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin on the F-35
While the Department of Defense "pauses" negotiations on Lockheed Martin's new fighter logistics agreement, an updated F-35 with a provisional version of the Tr-3 software performed a first flight while waiting for the Pentagon to release deliveries
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin are at a standstill in reaching an agreement on a new support agreement for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the most advanced fifth-generation fighter in the US military (as well as one of the most expensive).
In an interview with Breaking Defense earlier this month, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment Christopher Lowman said his team worked with Lockheed Martin to certify a performance-based logistics agreement (PBL), but a Congressional mandate that the deal increase readiness or reduce fighter maintenance costs has proven to be an obstacle. “Congress put a strict requirement on us before we could award a PBL,” Lowman said, adding that “we cannot certify as of today.”
Meanwhile, the JSF program has taken a hit due to delays with its Tech Refresh 3 (TR-3) update, which provides features such as improved processing power to facilitate a suite of new capabilities known as Block 4.
Meanwhile, last week, the first production F-35 with an initial, incomplete version of the software that powers the TR-3 flew at the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, the American defense giant told Defense News . The Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office is evaluating whether a strategy of loading interim versions of TR-3 software into the latest F-35s could provide a way to end a months-long delivery logjam and allow the government to begin to accept the latest versions of the fighter.
All the details.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE JSF PROGRAM SUPPORT AGREEMENT
In a statement provided to Breaking Defense , the Office of the US Secretary of Defense said that the current proposed performance-based logistics (PBL) agreement “does not meet” congressional certification requirements. “As a result, the Department is suspending negotiations on the F-35 PBL with Lockheed Martin,” the statement read, adding that the Pentagon and Lockheed “have agreed to extend the FY23 (FY23A) annual recurring sustainment contract through March 2024 and are working on a further extension until June 2024.”
Because of the impasse, Lowman said Pentagon officials have begun work on drafting a new support contract that will last "at least until the end of '24," indicating it could last longer.
“And that's just to ensure that we have the structure and support needed to sustain the F-35s and operations that are currently fielded globally,” the assistant secretary of Defense for sustainment said.
Lockheed officials earlier this year had forecast confidence that the PBL could secure a contract before the new year, but in September difficulties in reaching a deal prompted executives to push back that deadline to the first quarter of next year as soon as possible. But the fact that Lowman predicts the need for a traditional support agreement through 2024 suggests that the issue could drag on, the American newspaper notes.
LOCKHEED MARTIN'S POSITION
Lockheed executives, however, are pushing to change the approach to maintaining the F-35, which is expected to cost $1.3 trillion to operate and maintain over its entire life cycle.
“I'm convinced that performance-based logistics, where you're held accountable for an outcome, drives performance,” Greg Ulmer, head of Lockheed's aviation division, told Breaking Defense during an interview at the Paris Air Show early this year, adding that his desire is for something longer term than a five-year plan.
HOW THE TR-3 UPDATE CONTINUES
But negotiations on the new support agreement for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are not the only issue to be resolved between Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon.
The US Department of Defense, which is the largest F-35 customer, has stopped accepting deliveries of new aircraft in the TR-3 configuration until the system is certified.
As Defense News explains, Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3, is the name of a series of hardware and software upgrades for the latest F-35s and includes better displays, computer memory and processing power. The TR-3 upgrades are needed to pave the way for a more expansive modernization, known as Block 4, which will allow the F-35 to carry more long-range precision weapons and improve its electronic warfare and reconnaissance capabilities of targets.
However, TR-3 has experienced software problems and difficulties integrating it with new hardware, and its schedule has slipped significantly. It was initially scheduled to arrive in April, but has now been postponed until 2024, perhaps until next June.
TOWARDS DELIVERIES OF AIRCRAFT WITH PROVISIONAL VERSION?
The F-35 program's Joint Program Office (JPO) confirmed in an email to Defense News that it is looking for a way to resume acceptance flights for the last F-35s before the TR-3 is completely finished.
When asked whether this could involve using a pre-release or pre-release version of the software, the JPO responded that “potentially” the software could be updated in the future to complement the TR-3's capabilities. “The JPO and Lockheed Martin are working with the U.S. military and international customers on potential options to deliver operationally acceptable aircraft that would most likely require future software releases for a subset of capabilities to meet all requirements,” the JPO told Defense News . However, the JPO warned that no decisions on the delivery of F-35s with an initial version of the TR-3 software have yet been made by the services, partners and international customers.
For its part, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said last week's flight was an initial vehicle system checkout flight, which would be the first in a series of acceptance flights for the fighter.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/che-succede-tra-il-pentagono-e-lockheed-martin-su-f-35/ on Thu, 23 Nov 2023 12:20:54 +0000.