U.S. Navy Seeks Major Redesign of F-35 Mission Planning

The U.S. Navy is seeking industry support for a major redesign of the mission planning environment used by F-35 fifth generation fighter squadrons, with the planned effort expected to run for five years and potentially be worth between $50 million and $100 million. The F-35 Mission Planning Environment is a ground-based component of the fighter’s wider mission-support architecture. Pilots and mission planners use it before a sortie to prepare information including routes, threats, targets, weapons and communications settings, with the resulting mission data subsequently loaded into the aircraft. The current mission-planning support contract was awarded in February 2023, with the Navy’s new sources-sought notice indicates that there have been no significant changes in the scope, size or complexity of the requirement compared with the existing contract.

Mission planning is particularly important for the F-35 because of the aircraft’s reliance on extensive digital data and its intended employment in heavily contested environments. The aircraft is designed to combine information from its onboard sensors and external sources, while mission planning provides the data needed to prepare the aircraft for the specific operational environment in which it will be deployed. The requirement also illustrates the distinction between the F-35’s aircraft software and the wider network of ground systems supporting the aircraft. Lockheed Martin develops the F-35 and its mission-planning hardware and software, while the Navy’s planned contract is focused on government-side engineering and program support for the redesign of the Mission Planning Environment.

The new effort comes after years of difficulties with the F-35’s broader digital infrastructure. The programme previously relied heavily on the Autonomic Logistics Information System, or ALIS, which was intended to provide functions including mission planning, maintenance support and logistics management but encountered persistent performance and usability problems. The Department of Defense subsequently pursued the Operational Data Integrated Network, or ODIN, as its replacement, with the new architecture intended to provide a more modern and cloud-based approach. Mission planning itself has continued to evolve separately from the replacement of ALIS, with the Joint Program Office having also pursued a centrally managed Mission Planning Environment Country Kit intended to replace individual mission-planning systems used by international F-35 partners.