Lockheed Martin Running Out of Space to Store F-35s Rejected By Pentagon

The United States’ largest military contractor Lockheed Martin is struggling to find storage space for a fast growing fleet of F-35 fifth generation fighters which have been rejected by the Pentagon, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. With the Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) upgrade for the F-35 overdue due to serious software issues and delays to spare parts production, an inability to produce aircraft to this standard has led the Department of Defence to refuse to receive additional fighters. The effects of this have been particularly detrimental when considering that other than less than half a dozen F-15EX fighters, the F-35 is the only fighter the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps have acquired in close to 15 years, with the program already very far behind schedule forcing both services to keep older Cold War era aircraft in service far longer than intended. Test officials have described the TR-3’s software as “unstable,” despite standards for the software block having already been lowered.

The number of F-35s in storage at Lockheed Martin’s facilities is within months expected to reach over 100, fuelling calls on Capitol Hill to reduce acquisitions of the aircraft. Indeed, reports have indicated that storage could lead to damage to the aircraft before their delivery. The House Armed Services Committee’s recently released proposed fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorisation Act has thus stipulated a cut of F-35 acquisitions for all three services of the U.S. Armed Forces to just 58 aircraft, down from around 68, which would bring production levels to under half those of the rival Chinese J-20 fifth generation fighter. This is particularly critical since the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force is simultaneously acquiring three major fighter classes all in significant numbers, where the U.S. Air Force other than a very small number of F-15EX fighters is overwhelmingly reliant on the F-35. The F-35’s TR-3 upgrade is not expected to be ready before 2025, with Lockheed Martin having confirmed that F-35 deliveries in 2024 will be 27-50 percent lower than expected.