Lockheed Martin has completed work on the major Technology Refresh (TR) 3 upgrade for the F-35 multirole fighter. The reliability of one unspecified combat capability remains to be validated before the TR3 upgrade is declared combat-capable.
TR3 is the most aggressive update to be applied to the F-35 so far, bringing 75 new programs into a package that covers both hardware and software. At the heart of the upgrade is an upgraded core processing that provides 25 times more computing power compared with the previous TR2 standard.
Improvements introduced by TR3 cover various sensor upgrades and the ability to employ more and different types of weapons. Artificial intelligence figures prominently in the software. An open systems architecture permits the TR3 system to be rapidly upgraded to meet evolving threats and, crucially, prepares the aircraft to accept the range of weapons and capabilities planned for the upcoming Block 4 upgrade.
It also supports far greater interoperability, in turn allowing the F-35 to operate as a data node in multi-domain operations. This has been tested in recent months using a multi-domain gateway system that was developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. In one test, a Dutch F-35 used the gateway to download classified data into a command and control system, which passed firing-quality data to a ground-based rocket artillery system.
All F-35s built since last July have been fitted with the TR3 hardware and basic software, and will only require some additional software changes that can be uploaded in the field via the operational flight program. The 200th TR3 aircraft was delivered earlier this month.
Lockheed Martin is also providing TR3 upgrade kits for earlier TR2-standard aircraft, with the aim of conducting these upgrades at user bases with contract field teams.
Overall, the F-35 enterprise has delivered 1,185 aircraft to date and expects to complete between 170 and 190 aircraft this year. The in-service fleet has surpassed one million flight hours, and global F-35 customer nations now number 20.
Thirteen European nations either have F-35s in service or have ordered them. Combined with U.S. Air Force aircraft stationed in the UK, U.S. European Command expects to have more than 700 F-35s operating in its region by 2035.
The industrial effort continues to grow in Europe, with Germany’s Rheinmetall now receiving parts to begin the production of central fuselage assemblies. Finland is shortly to deliver forward fuselage sections, and Belgium is delivering horizontal tailplanes. The Cameri plant in Italy has begun servicing U.S. Air Force aircraft.
Poland is the latest European nation to receive the type, and now has four aircraft operating at Ebbing Air Force Base in Arkansas, from where the first two pilots have already graduated. Ebbing is being built up as the primary training base for foreign military sales customers, typically utilizing a customer’s initial production aircraft for instructor training before moving the main training effort to its own bases.