The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) approved a plan on 3 July to resume deliveries of all variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter after a year-long pause.
The US Department of Defense stopped accepting F-35 deliveries in July 2023. Since then, more than 100 F-35s equipped with TR-3 hardware have been completed, however, they haven’t been accepted by the US Department of Defense due to delays in fielding the TR-3 software.
Because the software package wasn’t complete, new-build F-35s configured with TR-3 couldn’t undergo test flights. They therefore couldn’t be accepted by the US Department of Defense ahead of their delivery to US or foreign customers.
While the final form of the TR-3 software has not been completed, the JPO has authorised a truncation plan for the TR-3 software which is what has allowed deliveries to resume. This will see jets delivered with a stripped-down, but stable, version of the TR-3 software known as 40P01 which will enable them to conduct combat training, but not combat missions.
It won’t be until a second software release, known as 40P02, that TR-3 configured F-35s will have full combat capability.
“On [3 July], Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, program executive officer, F-35 Joint Program Office, after extensive coordination with the Services, Joint Strike Fighter Executive Steering Board, pilots, maintainers, and industry, made the decision to move forward with the truncation plan for TR-3 software,” a JPO spokesperson said in a statement to ADM.
TR-3 was originally scheduled to roll out to the F-35 fleet from April 2023.
The US decision to stop accepting new F-35s last year had an impact on the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which is still awaiting nine F-35As configured with TR-3 before it can declare final operational capability (FOC), which was originally scheduled for December 2023.
“We look forward to delivering the first TR-3 F-35s with combat training capabilities soon. In partnership with the Joint Program Office, we are coordinating with the Royal Australian Air Force to ensure they are informed on delivery timing,” a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told ADM.