Lockheed Martin’s long-delayed TR-3 upgrade for the F-35 fighter jet is nearly complete. It promises massive improvements in sensors, AI, and combat capability, making Block 4 a leap in battlefield dominance.
At this week’s Paris Air Show, the largest and most prestigious aerospace event in the world, Lockheed Martin indicated it will soon unveil F-35 Block 4 capabilities, claiming it will be “the most aggressive upgrade in any fighter in history.”
“We must bring Block 4 in, because we know that the threat continues to evolve, and we have to stay ahead of it,” JR McDonald, vice president of business development for the F-35 program at Lockheed Martin, told reporters in a media briefing at the Paris Air Show, per National Defense.
McDonald’s comments indicated that the aerospace and defense giant had finally completed the long-overdue Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) software and hardware upgrade. When asked about the state of the TR-3 upgrade completion, the Lockheed Martin executive told reporters, “We believe we have reached that point.”
What Is the TR-3 Upgrade for the F-35 Fighter Jet?
Since its announcement, the full capabilities that the TR-3 upgrade would offer haven’t been disclosed. The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) has indicated that TR-3, which is necessary for the Block 4 aircraft to have its functionality available, would include an improved sensor suite, enabling the fifth-generation multirole stealth fighter to carry more long-range precision weapons. It also features improved electronic warfare (EW) capabilities and enhanced data fusion.
McDonald confirmed that the new Block 4 models will be significantly enhanced.
“Number one, all the sensors [are] being improved dramatically. Number two is the ability to carry more and different types of weapons. And number three, which will become the ultimate game-changer, is the additional interoperability features allowing us to communicate across the domains and be that central node in the battlespace,” the aerospace executive added.
TR-3 is more than a software patch. It also includes new hardware updates, featuring an integrated core processor reported to have 25 times the computing power of the Technology Refresh-2 (TR-2) model.
McDonald further explained that the TR-3 will bring new artificial intelligence (AI) functionality to the F-35.
“We recognized that with the previous core processor, the amount of computational power that we needed probably wasn’t going to be enough in TR-2 to move forward,” McDonald said.
“The vision in TR-3 was such that we had a new core processor that could support a government reference architecture that would allow us to move forward with AI.”
The upgrade will allow the F-35 Block 4 to be a “key enabler for collaborative combat aircraft going forward,” said McDonald. That referenced the US Air Force’s CCA program, which calls for developing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to support the manned fighter. Anduril’s Fury, with the designation FYQ-44A, and the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) Gambit, designated the FYQ-42A, are now undergoing ground testing before flight testing later this year.
Will a Full TR-3 Upgrade Come Soon?
A year ago, Lockheed Martin released a truncated version of the TR-3, following the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) halt to the F-35’s acceptance a year earlier due to the upgrade’s delay. Although deliveries resumed last year, the TR-3 software was incomplete, relegating the aircraft to training.
With the pending release of the full TR-3, the fifth-generation fighter will have new combat capabilities. Lockheed Martin had announced that 200 F-35s with the truncated TR-3 had been delivered, and the company is on track to produce between 170 and 190 by the end of calendar year 2025.
The US Military Will Get Fewer F-35 Fighter Jets than Last Year
The news of the TR-3 upgrade also follows last year’s announcement that the US military scaled back its order for the F-35. The US Air Force, the world’s largest operator of the F-35, has called for 24 aircraft in its budget request to lawmakers, down from a previously forecast 48 jets. The Air Force operates the F-35A, the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant.
The US Navy and United States Marine Corps also scaled back their orders. The sea service requested just 12 of the F-35C, the carrier-based variant, down from the previously approved 17. The USMC has cut its request by two F-35s; it operates both the F-35C and the F-35B, the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) model.
The F-35 accounts for around 30 percent of Lockheed Martin’s annual revenue.
Earlier this year, Boeing was selected to produce the manned sixth-generation fighter that is the centerpiece of the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), edging out Lockheed Martin. Although the company didn’t protest the high-profile contract loss, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet told analysts in an earnings call that the company was exploring the production of a more advanced version of the F-35 that would incorporate technology developed for the NGAD prototype.
Taiclet, who liked the upgrade to a Ferrari, said the enhanced F-35 could include 80 percent of the capability of a sixth-generation fighter, but at “half the price” of the Boeing F-47. President Donald Trump has embraced the idea, suggesting the aircraft could be designated the F-55.
Aviation experts have questioned whether some of Trump’s ideas, including a twin-engine version of the F-35, are realistic. Perhaps the other question is whether Lockheed Martin can produce an enhanced F-35 when it has taken two years longer than expected to deliver the TR-3.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a thirty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Cpl. Chloe Johnson.
