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Pentagon delays F-35 retrofits amid upgrade woes
Breaking Defense ^ | April 04, 2024 at 10:31 AM | Michael Marrow

Posted on 04/05/2024 5:28:43 AM PDT by Fish Speaker

WASHINGTON — Problems with an upgrade installed on some Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters rolling off the production line have now disrupted plans to incorporate those upgrades on existing aircraft, and the F-35 Joint Program Office does not have a date for when those jets will get the much-anticipated retrofits.

The F-35 program “was scheduled to begin TR-3 [Technology Refresh 3] retrofits in April 2024 with the intent to modify 149 aircraft over the subsequent 12-month period,” JPO spokesperson Russ Goemaere told Breaking Defense. But now, “[t]he Program is working closely with F-35 customers to establish a new start date for those modifications based on a number of factors including software and supply chains.

“Very capable TR-2 jets will continue to fly operational missions while awaiting the start of TR-3 retrofits,” he said. A breakdown of how those planned retrofits are shared across the fighter’s three variants and international customer base was not immediately available.

“We must improve our efficiency in integrating and testing TR-3 and Block 4 capabilities (Hardware and Software),” Goemaere said.

(Excerpt) Read more at breakingdefense.com ...


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: f35; retrofits; supplychain; tr3upgrade
The Technology Refresh - 3 (TR-3) upgrade does not perform to spec when installed on newly delivered F-35s, so the Pentagon has halted plans to retrofit it on older F-35s. Outsourcing software development and supply chain issues with the hardware are proving too much to overcome.
1 posted on 04/05/2024 5:28:43 AM PDT by Fish Speaker
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To: Fish Speaker

32 trillion, 33 trillion, 34 trillion, 35 trillion, 36 trillion, 5 more Congress millionaires, 37 trillion, $10 loaf of bread, 38 trillion..............................................


2 posted on 04/05/2024 5:37:03 AM PDT by cp124 (Bring back the Constitution.)
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To: Fish Speaker

Take that Putin!!!! We don’t need no F-35’s to work because WE ARE AMERICA, and therefore WE ARE INVINCIBLE!!!


3 posted on 04/05/2024 5:44:18 AM PDT by BobL (A society built on MERIT cannot survive on DEI (ref. South Africa, and now USA))
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To: Fish Speaker

If you look back at the difficulties that every fighter plane had, like the F4, F14, F15, F117 you could almost just switch the fighter designations and the story would be unchanged. It’s not the fighter, it’s the fact that it’s always just on the edge of what’s possible given the technology of the moment. You have to do that to keep the plane relevant for twenty, thirty or forty years.

A multimillion-dollar Formulae I car built ten years ago would most likely not be competitive today. If you want to play in the game, you must pay the price.


4 posted on 04/05/2024 5:53:29 AM PDT by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud? )
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To: cp124

F-35, over promised, under delivered way, way over cost.


5 posted on 04/05/2024 5:55:20 AM PDT by phormer phrog phlyer
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To: Gen.Blather

Sounds more like TR-3 did not have a fully successful DT/OT and someone still decided to deploy it to the fleet anyway.

All depends on where the “defects” are; Software, Hardware or BOTH!


6 posted on 04/05/2024 6:24:13 AM PDT by OHPatriot (Si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: Fish Speaker

F-35s have to be ‘upgraded’ right off the production line ?!?!!

heads should literally roll


7 posted on 04/05/2024 6:29:53 AM PDT by A strike (There is no tyranny that cannot be justified by 'climate change')
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To: Gen.Blather

If you look back at the difficulties that every fighter plane blah blah


Its still a compromise made by committee and can do nothing well.


8 posted on 04/05/2024 6:36:11 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: PIF; Gen.Blather

Oh, let’s get our Congresscritters involved! Getting some part built in every Congressman’s district certainly is the solution.


9 posted on 04/05/2024 7:02:46 AM PDT by oldplayer
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To: OHPatriot

“...and someone still decided to deploy it to the fleet anyway.”

I spent over thirty years in the defense industry. The problem is often unrealistic goals and objectives and those are tied to performance bonuses which can run into the millions of dollars. “What do you mean it doesn’t work? It has to be out of here by Friday, or you can find another job.” (Usually, it’s not stated so bluntly, but the idea comes across loud and clear.) The same is true on the military side. Nobody wants to tell a screaming A-hole general* that he can’t have the thing he ordered anytime soon. So, they just sign off on it.

* I personally experienced a literal, screaming Navy captain and a literal, dress-you-down-to-impress-everyone-else general. In the case of the captain, I ignored his rudeness and proceeded with my reasoning as to what the problem was. My boss touched my leg under the table and whispered, “Just drop it.” So that’s at least one reason why stupid stuff happens even when the underlings know the truth.

Incidentally, when I got higher in the hierarchy, I was careful to never raise my voice when someone told me something I’d have to deal with. I told everyone, if there’s a problem and you don’t tell me about it, then I’d be upset. Maybe this is why I peeked and started going back down the hierarchy. In the end I was grateful to be laid off.


10 posted on 04/05/2024 7:10:51 AM PDT by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud? )
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To: Gen.Blather
* I personally experienced a literal, screaming Navy captain and a literal, dress-you-down-to-impress-everyone-else general.

Bless you..I have endured the same on both sides of the SPO, military and contractor.

I finally said "screw it" and became a high school teacher.

11 posted on 04/05/2024 7:28:23 AM PDT by pfflier
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To: Fish Speaker

Somewhere, PukinDog is laughing...


12 posted on 04/05/2024 7:43:14 AM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: Gen.Blather

YEP, sounds way to familiar. I burned way to many bridges to break into the “upper crust.” Something about Personal INTEGRITY kept getting in the way of “ladder climbing.”

Hell, I ENJOYED burning every one of those bridges. Near the end, someone accused me of joining the “Road Crew.”

My Response - With all due respect, GFY Sir !!!!


13 posted on 04/05/2024 8:36:42 AM PDT by OHPatriot (Si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: Fish Speaker

The USMC graduated its last ever class of Harrier pilots a week ago today.

Pray they do not come to rue that day.


14 posted on 04/05/2024 9:36:38 AM PDT by Paal Gulli
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