Latest news with #TR-3
India.com
18-07-2025
- Politics
- India.com
F-35B, UK stealth jet's flaws exposed as it stays grounded in Kerala for over a month... What's next?
F-35B, UK stealth jet's flaws exposed as it stays grounded in Kerala for over a month... What's next? A fighter jet that was once supposed to be invisible, is now a public attraction. Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram Airport, a usual airport is now a place where people and plane spotters come just to spot this unusual sighting. The F-35B, the British Royal Navy's prized asset, which landed in Kerala due to a fuel shortage, has not taken off even a month after the incident and the things that it revealed are completely unexpected. What about the company behind it? This jet was made by Lockheed Martin, a name that echoes in every defence corridor, and every military personnel is familiar with. The F-35 fighter aircraft, their flagship product, now lies stranded in a commercial airport. Experts were flown in, engineers were made to work round the clock, yet, nothing changed. The fighter jet still stands alone, in silence. The problems in the jet? They are not isolated. Reports reveal even the U.S. government is struggling with it and its maintenance. The issue? Many. Hardware does not respond, software requires upgrades which keep getting delayed, the deliveries have slowed, and deadlines missed. Lockheed had to deliver 72 aircrafts by May, could they do it? No. Can the plan be improved? There is, it is called TR-3. With promises about bigger displays, stronger computing, and faster reaction time, the plan has brought in high hopes. But with delays mounting, Pentagon had to step in. They withheld funds, held back millions of dollars, and only released partial payments when they saw progress. What about the current situation? A deeper issue has been brought to light by the parked aircraft. What is it? It is not about a jet that refuses to fly, it is about the industry under pressure that isn't letting it. A simple problem has gotten complicated, even after having top minds and advanced tools trying to fix it. The problem? It is the hydraulics. Twenty-four specialists are on-site day and night, but failed to fix it. They are helpless, nothing is working. For India, the situation is sensitive. The stealth technology and classified secrets in the aircraft made U.S. and the British Navy hesitant in moving it indoors. Came monsoon rains, and they were forced to put it in a hangar. The parked jet, sleek on the outside, but wounded inside has remained there since June 14th. It is a difficult time for Lockheed Martin as the F-35 program makes 30% of their total business. Future orders would shrink if these issues persist and the need to address them is at peak now, as the Trump administration has started reviewing purchase plans for the upcoming year. The stranded aircraft unintentionally opened the window to a larger story, a story that needs to be told and worked upon. A story that led what was once a symbol of precision, to now being a symbol of pause.
India.com
18-07-2025
- Business
- India.com
F-35B Still Grounded In Kerala: UK Stealth Jet's Big Flows Exposed – Even Trump Camp In Panic; What's Next?
New Delhi: Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram Airport has become an unusual site. A fighter jet that was supposed to be invisible now sits visibly grounded. The F-35B, a prized asset of the British Royal Navy, landed here more than a month ago. It has not taken off since. A fuel shortage forced an emergency landing. What followed was something no one expected. A complete breakdown. Lockheed Martin made this jet. A name that echoes in every defense corridor. Their top product has now become a puzzle. Experts flew in. Engineers worked round the clock. Still, nothing changed. The F-35B stands in silence. The problems are not isolated. Reports show that the U.S. government has also been struggling. Software upgrades are delayed. Hardware is not responding. Deliveries have slowed. Lockheed was supposed to hand over 72 aircraft by May. That deadline slipped. The upgrade plan is called TR-3. It promises better displays. Stronger computing. Faster reaction. But development has crawled. As delays mounted, the Pentagon stepped in. Funds were withheld. Millions of dollars held back. Only after some progress did they release partial payments. The aircraft parked in Kerala has brought attention to a deeper issue. It is not only about a jet refusing to fly. It is about an industry under pressure. Even with top minds and advanced tools, basic fixes have become complicated. The hydraulic system is at the center of the problem. Twenty-four specialists are on-site. They have tried everything. Nothing has worked yet. For India, this situation is sensitive. The aircraft uses stealth technology. Its secrets cannot be exposed. So, the British Navy and U.S. officials were hesitant to move it indoors. But monsoon rain pushed their hand. Eventually, they agreed to shift it into a hangar. Since June 14, the jet has remained parked. On the outside, it looks sleek. Inside, it is wounded. For Lockheed Martin, the timing is difficult. The F-35 programme makes up nearly 30% of their business. If these issues continue, future orders may shrink. The Trump administration is already reviewing purchase plans for 2026. The aircraft in Kerala has unintentionally opened a window into a larger story. A symbol of precision. Now a symbol of pause.
India.com
15-07-2025
- Business
- India.com
Revealed: Real reason why powerful fighter jet F-35B failed to take off from Kerala, big weakness exposed, bad news for US due to...
New Delhi: An F-35B fighter jet of the British Royal Navy at Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is stranded there for more than a month now. The reason is that due to lack of fuel, after an emergency landing, this ultramodern fighter plane got damaged in such a way that the world's top aviation engineers could not fix it. Which company makes F-35B fighter jets? This stealth fighter jet has been made by the world's largest defense company Lockheed Martin, which is also the largest defense supplier of the US government. Now a report has revealed that such technical problems are not being faced only with the F-35B fighter plane that landed in Kerala. The Donald Trump administration of America is also facing major difficulties due to software and hardware problems of the F-35 jet. Why delivery of F-35 got delayed? According to a report by Bloomberg News, Lockheed Martin has delivered 72 F-35 fighter jets to the US government till May 1 this year, which is after a long delay caused by problems in its software upgrade. This upgrade is known as Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3). Its purpose is to improve the software and hardware of the F-35 aircraft. This includes better display and processing power of the fighter jet. Why is payment to Lockheed Martin halted? Lockheed Martin is not able to deliver these aircraft to the US government on time, due to which the Pentagon had stopped $ 5 million on each jet since last year. However, in January this amount was reduced by $ 1.2 million per aircraft because the defense contractor showed some progress in the upgrade. However, the report says that the funds for the new aircraft will still be stopped and it will be released gradually by next year. According to Reuters, the Pentagon's programme office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lockheed Martin declined to comment ahead of its second quarter earnings next week. The F-35 programme is very important for the world's largest defense company Lockheed Martin, which accounts for about 30% of its revenue. Due to the delay in upgrading software and hardware by the company, the world's largest defense contractor is likely to suffer losses in the financial year 2026 due to reduced demand for F-35 aircraft from the Trump administration.
Arabian Post
11-06-2025
- Business
- Arabian Post
F-35 Procurement Halved as Pentagon Reprioritises Budget
Pentagon officials have trimmed the U.S. Air Force's F-35A fighter jet order dramatically, requesting just 24 aircraft in fiscal year 2026—cutting it by half from the previously projected 48 jets. The revised procurement proposal, submitted to Congress, seeks approximately $3.5 billion for the jets and an additional $531 million set aside for advance materials procurement. This downsizing is part of a broader strategy by the Department of Defence to shift funding toward emerging defence priorities and cost-saving measures. The Navy and Marine Corps are also affected: the Navy's carrier variant request has dipped from 17 to 12 aircraft, and the Marine Corps' numbers have been reduced by two. Analysis indicates that delays tied to the F-35's TR-3 software upgrade have created bottlenecks in deliveries. Lockheed Martin paused shipments for software integration and sustainment testing; Congress also withheld acceptance of about 20 jets until those issues are resolved. Despite these setbacks, Lockheed still managed to deliver 110 F‑35s globally in 2024, and the F‑35 programme continues to represent approximately 30 percent of the company's annual revenue. Defence analysts describe the halving of F‑35A orders as both a fiscal recalibration and a window of opportunity. One investment commentary noted that while the short‑term cut may rattle markets, the production backlog and sustained international demand—especially among NATO allies—could help cushion Lockheed's pipeline. Already, partner nations such as the UK, Italy and the Netherlands have active procurement plans, while recent buyers like Germany, Greece, Singapore and Romania are proceeding with their orders. ADVERTISEMENT The shift comes amid a wider Pentagon push to realign procurement budgets; recent directives aim for an 8 percent reduction in total defence spending over five years. Cuts will support new programmes such as the F‑47 sixth‑generation fighter, Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones, hypersonic weapons and border security initiatives. House appropriations hearings have highlighted this transition, with Pentagon leaders confirming investment of more than $4 billion in next‑generation combat platforms in fiscal 2026, including funding for the F‑47 and the CCA 'loyal wingman' drones. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth described these as vital to maintaining air dominance in increasingly contested environments. Lockheed Martin has urged stakeholders to view the F‑35 as a long‑term strategic asset. The company's finance chief told investors that a final contract is anticipated once TR‑3 upgrades are cleared, signalling confidence in the jet's future viability. International sales remain central. With over $176 billion in export backlog at the end of 2024, Lockheed's reliance on foreign partners has grown. The U.S. share of global F‑35 orders has dropped from 70 percent a decade ago to about 55 percent today. Advocates argue that the jet's fifth‑generation stealth and interoperability continue to give it a unique edge over systems like Saab's Gripen E or Dassault's Rafale. Still, risks persist. Continued TR‑3 roll-out delays could erode confidence, and broader fiscal dynamics—such as the fate of reconciliation spending and geopolitical tensions—could further influence procurement. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy is forging ahead with its own next‑generation development: opting out of Lockheed for the F/A‑XX carrier fighter competition in favour of Boeing and Northrop Grumman designs. The Navy will continue to acquire F‑35C jets, purchasing them alongside future carrier‑based platforms. Budget documents reveal the Air Force intends to allocate $24.8 billion to aircraft procurement in FY 2026. F‑35A purchases form a smaller slice of that pie, with funds also directed to the hypersonic ARRW missile, Boeing's F‑15EX fighters, T‑7A trainers, and KC‑46A refuellers. In the meantime, Lockheed is focusing on resolving the TR‑3 integration challenges and progressing Block 4 upgrades—critical for retaining export competitiveness and meeting evolving defence needs. Despite reduced U.S. orders, strong international demand and technological advancement keep the F‑35 programme poised for continued relevance.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
F-35s to get new capabilities with summer software update
AURORA, Colo. — Lockheed Martin hopes to begin rolling out early Block 4 capabilities to the F-35 this summer, a senior company official said Monday. Chauncey McIntosh, vice president and general manager of Lockheed's F-35 program, said at the Air and Space Forces Association's AFA Warfare Symposium here that the company plans to drop an update to the F-35′s Technology Refresh 3 software, which will enable new features. The TR-3 software update will bring the aircraft type closer to being able to fly in combat, he said. 'Our warfighters are going to see a much higher increase of stability in that software' once the update is in place, McIntosh said. TR-3 is a series of upgrades to the F-35′s computer memory, processing power, and displays, which are intended to make the jet more capable and pave the way for a subsequent series of more substantial improvements known as Block 4. McIntosh said in a briefing with reporters Monday that Block 4 will bring the F-35 improved sensors, better sensor fusion, and an expanded array of weapons the fighter can carry. In an interview with Defense News after the briefing, McIntosh declined to specify which Block 4 upgrades are on their way later this year, saying the details are secret. 'There are some things coming that the warfighter is going to be excited to receive,' he said. A previous Block 4 capability that was dramatically accelerated in the F-35 was the adoption of the automatic ground collision avoidance system, or auto-GCAS. That life-saving technology automatically pulls a jet up if the pilot is unresponsive and the jet senses it is diving into the ground. Officials began installing the capability in 2019. TR-3′s rollout was snarled by lingering software and hardware problems that caused the government to refuse deliveries of dozens of new F-35s for about a year. The delivery halt was lifted in July 2024, after Lockheed Martin developed an interim version of the TR-3 software that would allow pilots to fly training missions, and then combat training. But the jets are still not able to fly in combat, and the government is withholding millions of dollars from Lockheed until the jets are certified to be combat capable. The F-35 Joint Program Office said earlier this year that it hopes the TR-3 jets will be combat capable by the end of 2025, but Lockheed's chief financial officer said in a January earnings call that it might slip to early 2026. It remains unclear whether F-35s will reach full combat capability this year. McIntosh said it will be up to the military services and international partners flying the jets to decide whether they are ready for combat. He did not directly answer when asked whether Lockheed will be able to deliver all the elements needed for a combat-ready designation by the end of this year. Lockheed expects to deliver between 170 and 190 F-35s this year, as it works through the backlog from the TR-3 delays. That would be up from the roughly 110 it delivered in 2024. McIntosh told reporters Lockheed and the government expect to define the terms of the next F-35 contract, for Lot 18 of the jets, in the second quarter of 2025. Although that contract has not yet been definitized, he said, the company is keeping the rising costs of the jet under inflation. He highlighted the price of steel as one example of a material that goes into an F-35 that has seen significant inflation in recent years. When asked how the Trump administration's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum might affect the F-35 program, McIntosh said Lockheed is monitoring their economic effects. He declined to speculate on how Lockheed might respond to tariff-driven increases in the supply chain, but said in the past the company has sought to find new ways to get cheaper materials, such as hunting for alternative vendors or adopting different buying techniques.
