Pentagon resumes purchases of new F-35 jets after year delay

The Defense Department has resumed the purchase of F-35s from defense contractor Lockheed Martin after more than a year of pausing the acquisition of newer versions of the fighter jets.

Two of the newer F-35 Lightning IIs were delivered recently to Dannelly Field, Ala., and Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., the F-35 Joint Program Office announced on Friday.

Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, the F-35 office’s program executive officer, said they were beginning a “phased approach” to the newest batch of F-35s, known as Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3) for a software and hardware update to the aircraft.

In the first phase, F-35s with initial capabilities will arrive in July and August. By the end of August, fighter jets with a “robust training capability” will begin arriving. The office aims to have the full delivery of TR-3 aircraft in 2025.

“Our focus has been on providing our customers with aircraft that are stable, capable, and maintainable, and this phased approach does that,” Schmidt said in a statement. “This is an important first step.”

The TR-3 fighter jets have encountered a host of problems with the new update, leading to an undisclosed number of the aircraft sitting on the tarmac as Lockheed works to resolve the issues. The Pentagon paused deliveries of the new aircraft in July 2023 over the concerns with the work on TR-3.

TR-3 is supposed to bring the F-35s to a suite of new capabilities called Block 4, but the update has run into numerous difficulties with parts procurement and integration of computing software. Those problems are still being worked out and are at least a year away from being resolved, but the Pentagon is for now accepting F-35s with an interim version of the TR-3 update.

Bridget Lauderdale, vice president and general manager of the F-35 program at Lockheed Martin, said Block 4 is a “critical evolution in capability and their full development remains a top priority.”

“These and further software updates over the life of the program will ensure the F-35 continues to be an effective deterrent and the cornerstone of joint all-domain operations now and decades into the future,” Lauderdale said in a statement.

The F-35 program, expected to cost more than $2 trillion over its lifetime, is the most expensive weapons program in history. F-35s have experienced a range of difficulties over the years, and the TR-3 delays have pushed Congress closer toward reining in the program.