Latest news with #LockheedMartin
Al Arabiya
10 hours ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Lockheed clears 72 jet backlog of F-35s parked over late software improvements
Lockheed Martin has delivered F-35 jets parked at its Forth Worth, Texas plant to the US government as of May 1 after several months of delay due to late software improvements, according to the Pentagon's program office. The Defense Department was withholding as much as $5 million in final payment per aircraft until the company demonstrates that the software and hardware upgrade — known as Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3 — can support intense training missions and eventual full combat operations. Lockheed Martin delivered 72 jets, the program office told Bloomberg News after months of declining to reveal the number. Clearing the backlog is a public relations win for the world's leading defense contractor and the most expensive weapons program. Pentagon officials had reduced the number of Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps jets requested in the fiscal 2026 budget from 75 to 47, citing higher costs to maintain readiness levels. The Pentagon said it reduced the amount it's withholding by about $1.2 million per plane in January as Lockheed Martin was assessed to be making some progress with the software. However, the 'bulk of funds are currently withheld and will continue to be released incrementally' into next year even if several criteria for releasing them have been met, the program office said in statement. Funds continue to be withheld for new production aircraft, it said. 'It was good the program is still holding back money until the complete TR-3 is delivered to each aircraft,' said Jon Ludwigson, a director for national security contracting with the Government Accountability Office who oversees the agency's F-35 work. Still, he said parking the unfinished aircraft at the contractor's site posed considerable challenges, and delays with delivering full TR-3 capabilities also slowed down key upgrades and other improvements 'promised to the warfighters.' 'It will take time to get back on planned schedules for the program,' Ludwigson said. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson declined to discuss the F-35 deliveries as the company is in a quiet period before reporting second-quarter earnings.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Lockheed Martin delivers 72 F-35 jets facing upgrade delays, Bloomberg News reports
(Reuters) -Lockheed Martin has delivered 72 F-35 jets to the U.S. government as of May 1, after several months of delay due to late software improvements, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing the Pentagon's program office. The upgrade, known as Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3), aims to give the stealth fighter software and hardware improvements, including better displays and processing power. It has been weighed down by delays, prompting the Pentagon to withhold $5 million per jet since last year. That number was reduced by about $1.2 million per plane in January as the defense contractor was considered to be making some progress with the upgrade, according to the report. Funds will continue to be withheld for new production aircraft, the report said, adding that a majority of funds remain to be withheld and "will continue to be released incrementally" into next year. The Pentagon's program office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Lockheed Martin declined to comment ahead of its second-quarter earnings next week. The F-35 program is vital to Lockheed, as it contributes about 30% of its revenue. The world's biggest defense contractor is also likely to take a hit from fewer F-35's requested by the Trump administration in the fiscal 2026 budget.
Bloomberg
13 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Lockheed Clears 72-Jet Backlog of F-35s Parked Over Late Software Improvements
Lockheed Martin Corp. has delivered F-35 jets parked at its Forth Worth, Texas plant to the US government as of May 1 after several months of delay due to late software improvements, according to the Pentagon's program office. The Defense Department was withholding as much as $5 million in final payment per aircraft until the company demonstrates that the software and hardware upgrade — known as Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3 — can support intense training missions and eventual full combat operations.
CBC
13 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Trump's pivot on Ukraine shows he's unwilling to put maximum pressure on Putin
As Donald Trump sat in the Oval Office on Monday and announced that NATO would be buying U.S. weapons and shipping them to Kyiv, it was a major pivot for the U.S. president and for an administration that just two weeks ago halted the supply of some military hardware, including air defence missiles which were already en route to Ukraine. But while it was a sign that Trump has grown frustrated by Vladimir Putin's recalcitrance, the announcement was also a signal that Trump is unwilling to go all-in to pressure Russia's president. Instead of immediately hitting Moscow's trading partners with secondary sanctions, he offered the Kremlin a 50-day deadline to agree to a ceasefire. Before his televised appearance alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump teased the announcement as "major." Afterwards, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude, while Russian investors appeared relieved, as the stock market rose. Escalated attacks Trump's announcement included broad statements, and scant details. He said that billions of dollars in weaponry would be sent, including Patriot missile defence systems, but there was no talk publicly about sending longer range cruise missiles, like Lockheed Martin's JASSMs, which have a range of about 370 kilometres. He said that if the Kremlin doesn't agree to a deal within 50 days, he would roll out those secondary sanctions against Russia's trading partners, and impose a 100 per cent tariff on all Russian goods that enter the U.S. "Militarily it looks like [this deal] is useful, but without the detail, it's hard to know if it radically changes anything," said Matthew Saville, director of military sciences at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. " On sanctions, on tariffs, [Trump] is talking about another 50 days. Putin will use at least 49 of those days to continue to keep attacking Ukraine." Russia has escalated its air attacks on Ukrainian cities, particularly Kyiv, where metro stations and shelters, which have been relatively empty throughout much of the war, are now crowded nightly during Russian barrages. The Patriot system is designed to take down cruise and ballistic missiles, but with each interceptor missile costing roughly $4 million US, Saville says it is "wildly uneconomical" to use them to shoot down drones that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Hundreds of enemy drones Instead, when Moscow launches hundreds of Shahed and Geran drones, Kyiv uses small arms and other domestically produced drones to try to bring them down. Saville says Ukraine's interception rate is normally 85 per cent. But with so many being launched nightly, dozens of drones have been able to get through. On the streets of Kyiv Monday afternoon, some were cautiously optimistic after hearing the announcement, but many were skeptical of Trump who has given Putin deadlines before. "I really hope that these 50 days… will finally be real pressure on Russia.," said Denys Podilchuk, 39, in an interview with Reuters. "The fact they are giving Patriots is very good because sitting at night... in the hallways and fearing for your child is not good," said Olena Karpushyna. Trump's shift in tone In recent days, Trump's growing frustration toward Putin was evident by his blunt language. He accused the Russian president of spewing "bullsh-t," saying later that Putin "talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening." On Monday, while Trump said he was disappointed in Putin and thought there would had been a deal two months ago, he chose his words carefully and didn't lambaste him. "I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy, " he said, adding that Russia is "potentially such a great country." While there was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin, Putin has shown no willingness to cede any of his original goals, demanding that peace come on his terms. Putin has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — the four Ukrainian regions which Russia has laid claim to — and be blocked from ever joining NATO. Alexander Dugin, a Russian philosopher and ultra-nationalist, said on Telegram that Trump's 50-day deadline means that Moscow has a limited window for the "final liberation" of the four regions, and also "preferably Kyiv." "We have 50 days to finish everything that we haven't finished," he wrote, saying that Trump's threat to impose secondary sanctions on countries that import Russian energy products, like India and China, is serious. Both countries are major importers of Russian oil, but even the E.U. still relies on Russian gas, which made up 19 per cent of its imports last year. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators who have been pushing forward a secondary sanctions bill have been lobbying for a much higher tariff rate of 500 per cent. Trump gave almost no details about how the sanctions would work and was vague when a reporter asked why he wasn't going with the senators' recommendations. Sitting beside Trump throughout the 35-minute news conference, Rutte praised Trump's decision, saying this arrangement allows Europe "to step up" and support Ukraine by purchasing the American weaponry. James Black, the deputy director at Rand Europe, a global policy think-tank, said that while European countries have been able to collectively provide more aid than Washington to Ukraine, the U.S provides "many of the most sophisticated and hard-to-replicate military technologies." Throughout his announcement, Trump repeatedly boasted that the U.S. makes "the best of everything," but he was clear that it wouldn't be Washington paying for the weapons. In a bid to assuage some of his supporters who don't want to see tax dollars going to a foreign war, he was adamant that other NATO countries would be paying.
Observer
17 hours ago
- Business
- Observer
Australia fires first HIMARS rocket
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia: Australia's army fired a truck-mounted long range rocket system that has become a priority for US allies in the Indo-Pacific for the first time on Monday, alongside US and Singapore forces firing the same system in joint war games. Armoured trucks with HIMARS — High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems that can reach 400 km (250 miles) — are in high demand in the Ukraine conflict and are also being acquired by US allies in the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, which is reshaping its forces to respond to China's military build-up. On the first day of Australia's largest war games, "Talisman Sabre", the US, Australia, Japan, France, South Korea and Singapore held a live-fire exercise in northern Queensland involving US F-35B fighter jets and land-based long-range strike rockets and missiles. Up to 40,000 troops from 19 nations are taking part in Talisman Sabre, across thousands of kilometres from Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia's east coast. Australian Army Brigadier Nick Wilson, director general of the combined live-fire exercise, said it was the first time Australia, Singapore and the United States had fired HIMARS together, and the first firing by Australia on home soil. "HIMARS will be utilised in conjunction with a number of other weapon platforms ... to ensure we have a strategy of denial for security, peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific," he told reporters on Monday. The joint exercise at Shoalwater Bay in north Queensland was watched by Australian Governor General Sam Mostyn and Chief of Defence Admiral David Johnston. Australia has previously said army regiments with HIMARS can be transported to neighbouring island states with defence agreements to protect its northern approaches in a conflict. Lockheed Martin delivered the first two of 42 HIMARS launcher vehicles ordered by Australia in April. Australia has said it will spend A$74 billion ($49 billion) on missiles over the next decade, including a new domestic manufacturing capability. US Army Lieutenant General Joel Vowell, deputy commanding general for the Pacific, said on Sunday the US needed to work with partners in the Indo-Pacific, and that Talisman Sabre was "a deterrent mechanism because our ultimate goal is no war". — Reuters
