F-35 TR-3 Progress?

January 30, 2025

Problems with the Lockheed F-35’s Technology Refresh 3 upgrade (primarily with software stability) led to the JPO withholding payments and refusing to take delivery of TR-3 equipped aircraft from July 2023. These undelivered aircraft built up at Fort Worth, where they were stored.
A truncated software load (release 40P01) was approved in July 2024, allowing deliveries to restart on 19 July (further delayed from April-May), when single aircraft were flown to Dannelly Field, Alabama, and to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. These aircraft had only an initial training capability, though a combat training capability was reportedly enabled by August-September.
More work will be required before the F-35 has fully combat-capable TR-3 software (release 40P02). This was once expected during 2025, but in its January earnings call, Lockheed Martin suggested that this date may already have slipped: “Under the new acceptance plan, jets will be delivered with interim software that facilitates training, but a second software drop that enables combat capabilities likely won’t be available for at least another year.”
Lockheed did aver that it was making “excellent progress” on the F-35’s Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3), but acknowledged that the company still needs to complete some mission system integration work and improve the stability of the equipment. The company said that it would meet “some milestones” this year, but did not say that the upgrade package would be fully combat capable this year.
Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave said that: “We’re targeting as much as possible this year. But I think for purposes of financial modelling, we would expect, you know, this to bleed into 2026,” he said, adding that “ultimately, the declaration of full combat capability is one that is left with our customer.”
TR-3 is a relatively modest update to the aircraft’s computing systems (hardware and software) in order to facilitate the forthcoming Block 4 upgrade and to field future mission system upgrades. Block 4, however, is itself in trouble, and is currently being “reimagined” (eg descoped and reduced).