Lockheed Martin Plans On a “Ferrari” Upgrade For The F-35 Fighter

When U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Boeing had won the contract to build the future F-47 sixth-generation stealth fighter jet, Lockheed Martin officially lost its bid to build the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) system.

But the aircraft giant is not losing a step. Lockheed is looking at taking the technology it developed as part of its NGAD package, and dropping it inside the F-35.

Lockheed Martin claims these new technologies, incorporated into the Lightning II, can provide 80 percent of the capabilities of the F-47 at half the cost. This is a huge claim, and one aimed at keeping the F-35 relevant for decades to come while potentially providing an alternative to the F-47.

Going further than just minor modifications, the changes would give the F-35 what the company poetically describes as a “NASCAR upgrade” to its base chassis. The “fifth generation-plus” reworking could include new materials, geometries, and countermeasures developed under the NGAD aegis.

Lockheed Dusting Off An Old Tactic with Super F-35

Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet announced that the world’s largest defense contractor will not protest the U.S. Air Force’s decision to award the Next Generation Air Dominance contract to Boeing. Instead, the company will put its full focus toward enhancing its flagship stealth fighter jet, in hopes of enticing the Pentagon with a less expensive alternative to the future F-47.

“We’re basically going to take the [F-35] chassis and turn it into a Ferrari,” Taiclet said. “It’s like a NASCAR upgrade, so to speak, where we would take the F-35 [and] apply some of those co-funded technologies both from NGAD and the F-35 program.

“My challenge here on my aeronautics team is, let’s get 80 percent of six-gen capability at half the price. And that’s something that — these are engineers, you know, they wouldn’t have agreed to this if they didn’t think there was a path to get there,” he added.

This tactic is nothing new. In fact, it is the same kind of marketing argument that Boeing used when pitching the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet against the Joint Strike Fighter program in 2001.

McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics used the same approach to pitch improved F-15 and F-16 variants as cheaper alternatives to the Advanced Tactical Fighter program, which eventually became the F-22, in the 1990s.

But in the process, Lockheed Martin could be working toward an enormous upgrade for the F-35—it could keep the Lightning II’s assembly line rolling for years to come. There are already more than 1,100 operational F-35 aircraft. This would provide many of the countries involved in the program with access to technology beyond the base fifth generation.

Providing New Technology

Using the term “chassis” suggests that Lockheed Martin has plans to upgrade the aircraft in possibly radical ways.

The company has already stated that the F-35 has strong potential as part of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

Taiclet also spoke about the emergence of passive infrared sensors as a key feature on fighter aircraft. Russian and Chinese designs have incorporated these for some time, as have the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Dassault Rafale. U.S. aircraft, however, were not originally designed with this technology and are being equipped with podded infrared search-and-track sensors.

Export Sales Would Boom on Super F-35

Many U.S. allies and partners have already invested in the F-35 program, and 20 countries have purchased it. Surely they would be interested in a “NASCAR” upgrade package for their aircraft.

Taiclet said his company would want to have the option to export the more advanced fifth-generation-plus models to partner nations, but that would be up to Washington, which always has the final say on what can be exported.

“Our goal is to make as much of this capability that we can [export],” Taiclet said, while adding, “We try to design [technology] in a way that’s hopefully an easier decision for exportability than a harder one.

“Eventually, there’ll be 3,500 of those [F-35] chassis out there at various stages of technology and capability [worldwide],” Taiclet said. “We think we can get most of the way to sixth-gen at half the cost.

“Value is important and maybe as or more important than the highest technology available. It’s got to be scalable, it’s got to be affordable, it’s got to work every time. And so that’s what we’re after.”

Will Lockheed turn the F-35 into Models D,E, and F, with vastly different looking variants down the line? It certainly sounds appealing, but sometimes reality can get in the way—as can costs.

About the Author:

Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.

MORE: A Navy Aircraft Carrier Was Stuck in Port for 6 Years

MORE: The Challenger 3 Tank Shortage