At the beginning of the year, there was speculation that the long-delayed technology upgrade for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II wouldn’t be completed this year. However, at last week’s Paris Air Show, the world’s largest and most prestigious aerospace event, executives from Lockheed Martin confirmed that the Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3) had been completed and was awaiting final signoff from the United States Department of Defense (DoD).
Far more than a mere software patch or hardware tweak, the TR-3 has been described as the “most aggressive upgrade in any fighter in history,” and it is a critical component for the Block 4 models, offering improvements in the aircraft’s sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), and combat capability.
Long-time Coming
Lockheed Martin began development of the F-35’s TR-3 in 2021, with the initial goal of completing it by April 2023. It faced delays with the software, and the first test flight was only conducted in January 2023. Due to the delays, in July of that same year, the Pentagon halted acceptance of Lightning IIs until the upgrade was completed.
It was only last summer, after more than a year, that Lockheed Martin released a truncated version, which then allowed for deliveries of the fifth-generation stealth fighter to resume. However, the aircraft that were accepted with the incomplete TR-3 are not combat certified and were relegated to training.
With the release of the full TR-3, the aircraft will finally receive a complete upgrade and enhanced combat capabilities. According to Lockheed Martin, approximately 200 F-35s have been delivered with the truncated version since then, while the aerospace firm is on track to provide an additional 170 to 190 aircraft. It is unclear if deliveries will be slowed to allow the pending aircraft to receive the final version.
A More Powerful F-35
The F-35 Joint Program Office hasn’t disclosed the full capabilities of the TR-3 upgrade. Still, it has been described as providing the stealth fighter with greater “computational horsepower to support modernized Block 4 capabilities,” which include “new sensor suites, more long-range precision weapons, improved electronic warfare features, more powerful data fusion, and increased cross-platform interoperability.”
Moreover, the TR-3 was stated to update the “core processing power and memory capacity” of the F-35, which will allow the fifth-generation fighter to “run advanced software.” According to details provided at last week’s Paris Air Show, the TR-3 will include 75 hardware and software updates, including a new integrated core processor with up to 25 times the computing power of the Technology Refresh-2 (TR-2) upgrade. It will further support a new cockpit display system and quicker mission system updates.
TR-3 Finalized, But Issues Remain
Even as the TR-3 seems near the finish line, there could still be some turbulence. The new radar for the F-35 has also encountered delays, and it remains unclear when these issues can be resolved or what changes may be required. There has been speculation that Lockheed Martin may opt to redesign the airframe’s forward fuselage to accommodate the new radar, beginning with Lot 17; however, this may not address issues with Lots 17, 18, and 19.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin was warned of the issue back in March, and it appears that it remains unresolved.
More Upgrades Coming
The TR-3 and new radars aren’t likely to be the final updates for the fifth-generation fighter. After Boeing was selected to build the F-47, the centerpiece system of the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, a sixth-generation manned fighter, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet suggested that many of the features the aerospace firm developed for its entry could be employed with the F-35.
He proposed a fifth-generation plus aircraft that could offer 80% of the technology of a sixth-generation fighter at a reduced cost.
President Donald Trump also suggested that Lockheed Martin could build a more advanced version of the F-35, which the president proposed as the F-55, a twin-engine version of the original Lightning II. However, aviation analysts have downplayed the practicality of such a modification without a significant redesign.
Yet, the point remains that the F-35 is by far the world’s most successful fifth-gen fighter to date, with more than 1,100 delivered to customers. It has a proven combat record and was among the 200+ aircraft used in the Israel Air Force’s (IAF’s) strikes on Iran earlier this month. Though Tehran claimed that as many as four were shot down, there has been no independent confirmation, and media analysts downplayed the claims as the latest propaganda to come from the Islamic Republic.
