DefenseNews

F-35 customers in Asia-Pacific monitor Lockheed upgrade saga from afar

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Lockheed Martin’s delay in rolling out the F-35 fighter’s Technology Refresh 3 upgrade package appears to have no immediate effect on customers in the Asia-Pacific region, but governments are monitoring their acquisition timelines closely. The American firm paused F-35 deliveries pending acceptance of the TR-3 software suite, which comprises a mission system…
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DefenseNews

For F-35, Congress must heed history

History serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of neglecting air superiority, a mistake America must not repeat with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as it did with the F-22 Raptor. In 2009, the F-22 program was abruptly cancelled after the production of only 187 aircraft — a quarter of the originally planned 750 fighters. This short-sighted decision left the U.S. Air Force with a…
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DefenseNews

Lockheed running out of parking space amid F-35 delays, says watchdog

Lockheed Martin is running out of space to store undelivered F-35 Joint Strike Fighters as the jets’ upgrade effort remains behind schedule, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report released Thursday. Furthermore, the F-35 program’s testing capacity is stretched thin and will worsen once the Technology Refresh 3 software upgrade and the Block 4 update are ready, GAO…
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DefenseNews

Takeaways from the voyage to Gaza for the US Army’s watercraft program

When the U.S. Army’s largest watercraft, LSV-1, cast off for Gaza in early March, it marked the start of a momentous journey. This voyage, followed by the deployment of several additional ships loaded with equipment to establish a pier and parts of a modular causeway system, represents a significant portion of the Army’s mission-critical, intra-theater lift capability. The ships are now in…
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