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Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin reached a new milestone in F-35 fighter production by successfully producing its 1,000th F-35.
It's a significant accomplishment considering the problems the F-35 continues to face.
Previously, the 1,000th F-35 was scheduled to be assembled in July 2023 and completed by the end of 2023.
In addition to successfully producing 1,000 of his F-35s, Lockheed Martin had several other successes.
As of early January 2024, the F-35 has logged more than 773,000 cumulative flight hours, with more than 2,280 pilots and 10,000 pilots in 14 air services around the world, according to an article on TheDrive.com.
It has trained more than 5,400 technicians and flown more than 469,000 total missions.
There are currently 32 bases and 11 ships that house or can accommodate F-35 forces.
It is available to users in 17 countries, which also participate in the International Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.
In an official press statement to TheDrive.com, Lockheed does not yet intend to send 1,000 F-35s or any other F-35s.
This is because new production aircraft will be equipped with his TR-3 hardware and TR-3 software.
The F-35 will not be delivered to consumers until equipment testing and installation is complete. TR-3 is an abbreviation for Technology Refresh 3, an improvement program for the F-35. The TR-3 was Lockheed's first stepping stone before introducing his F-35 Block 4.
Before manufacturing the Block 4 version, Lockheed required new hardware and software as the basis for manufacturing the Block 4.
Subsequently, the F-35 equipped with this new device was named TR-3.
However, there were problems and delays in the development of the TR-3.
Delay factors for TR-3 include the aging of the F-35 program's current test fleet and other limitations of existing test infrastructure, particularly with regard to field software laboratories.
That made the problem even worse.
F-35 First flight of the TR-3 test jet will take place in January 2023, work is currently underway to modify six of his F-35 units to support testing of the TR-3 equipment is.
The TR-3 development process is expected to be completed around April or June 2024.
Delays in TR-3 development have resulted in significant additional costs to the F-35 program.
At a December 2023 Armed Services Committee hearing, New Jersey Democratic Rep. Donald Norcross said: TR-3 problems resulted in $1 billion in cost overruns.
The estimated total cost of the F-35 program by the end of its lifecycle in the 2070s is currently estimated at approximately $1.
7 trillion, according to the General Accounting Office (GAO).
After development of the TR-3 was completed, there was another difficult task to complete.
That means installing the TR-3 package onto your existing jet.
In addition to hardware and software, the F-35 program is separately seeking improvements to the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that powers all variants of the Joint Strike Fighter, as well as the Block 4 expansion.
Power and thermal management systems, which are also required for functionality, are also important.
Importance.
Block 4 has many new features, including much greater data processing power, new displays, improved cooling systems, new electro-optical EOTS and DAS sensors, and a suite of additional weapons to unlock the potential of the F-35.
It is included.
The jet's new radar and electronic warfare systems provide the biggest enhancements.
The electronic warfare aspect is the biggest benefit arising from the Block 4 plan.
Meanwhile, Lockheed succeeded in making history by producing his 1,000th F-35, but there is still a lot of homework left to complete the development of the F-35 TR-3.
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