Lockheed Martin delivered 72 jets, the programme office said. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: Lockheed Martin Corp has delivered F-35 jets parked at its Forth Worth, Texas plant to the US government as of May 1 after several months of delay due to late software improvements, according to the Pentagon’s programme office.
The Defence Department was withholding as much as US$5mil in final payment per aircraft until the company demonstrated that the software and hardware upgrade, known as Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3), can support intense training missions and eventual full combat operations.
Lockheed Martin delivered 72 jets, the programme office said. Clearing the backlog is a public relations win for the world’s leading defence contractor and the most expensive weapons programme.
Pentagon officials had reduced the number of Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps jets requested in the financial 2026 budget from 75 to 47, citing higher costs to maintain readiness levels.
The Pentagon said it reduced the amount it’s withholding by about US$1.2mil per plane in January as Lockheed Martin was assessed to be making some progress with the software.
However, the “bulk of funds are currently withheld and will continue to be released incrementally” into next year even if several criteria for releasing them have been met, the programme office said in a statement.
Funds continue to be withheld for new production aircraft, it said.
“It was good the programme is still holding back money until the complete TR-3 is delivered to each aircraft,” said Jon Ludwigson, a director for national security contracting with the Government Accountability Office, who oversees the agency’s F-35 work.
Still, he said parking the unfinished aircraft at the contractor’s site posed considerable challenges, and delays with delivering full TR-3 capabilities also slowed down key upgrades and other improvements “promised to the warfighters”.
“It will take time to get back on planned schedules for the programme,” Ludwigson said. — Bloomberg
