The F-35, the world’s most modern fighter-bomber, is produced by the American company Lockheed Martin. The company issued a statement saying that the production of the “super modern” machines is hampered by software problems.
PER AIRCRAFT DELAY costs the company $7 million.
The company planned to produce a total of 147-153 F-35 fighter-bombers in 2023, but according to the current situation, they will only be able to deliver 100-120 units to customers. According to the worst-case scenario, the production of a total of 53 fighter-bombers will be delayed, which would mean a total loss of 371 million dollars for the company.
The problem is caused by the authentication of the software uploaded to the machines.
The machines produced so far were equipped with the program called Technology Refresh-2, but in the future, the F-35s would be equipped with the software called Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3). The new application could provide 20-25 times more computing power, but for now it cannot work reliably. For this reason, the Pentagon is temporarily not taking over the planes.
In the first six months of the year, the company was able to produce a total of 50 F-35s. According to their hopes, they will be able to find a solution to the software problem soon, and the American forces will take over the fighter-bombers again. According to the manager of Lockheed Martin, the problem does not affect the long-term plans, they still plan to manufacture 156 F-35 planes in 2025.
Cover image source: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
