The US Air Force (USAF) and F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) have resumed receiving F-35A Lightning II fighters from Lockheed Martin after one year.
The manufacturer sent two aircraft on July 19, which were received at Dannelly Field, Alabama, and Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
Despite the resumption, the two fighters can only be used in training as the TR-3 (Technical Refresh 3) software is not ready. F-35s can fly with the “truncated” version of the upgrade until the definitive version is approved, which is expected by the end of August.
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“The first phase will deliver jets with an initial training capability in July and August. By the end of August, we will be delivering jets with a robust combat training capability, as we continue towards the delivery of full TR-3 combat capabilities in 2025. Our focus has been on providing our customers with aircraft that are stable, capable, and maintainable, and this phased approach does that,” said Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, the JPO’s Program Executive Officer
For now, only the United States will have access to the new F-35s while international customers will have to wait longer.
Lockheed and the U.S. Department of Defense have not revealed how many F-35s were produced and stored while the pause lasted, but about 120 aircraft are believed to have been completed in the meantime.
The Pentagon had suspended F-35 deliveries in July 2023 after the TR-3 upgrade was not ready for service.
The update is considered the basis for a new package of improvements called Block 4 that will be released in the future.
The problem caused by the TR-3 also affected other countries such as Denmark and Belgium.
