The F-35 Fighter Needs a Critical Update. The Problem: It Will Be 5 Years Late

Key Points and Summary – A recent GAO report reveals the F-35’s critical Block 4 upgrade is now five years behind schedule and $6 billion over budget.

-This delay is more than a line item; it directly impacts combat capability by preventing the jet from using a new generation of crucial weapons.

-These include the long-range AIM-260 missile, designed to counter Chinese and Russian fighters, and the advanced all-weather Stormbreaker smart bomb.

-Without these vital upgrades, the F-35’s ability to maintain air superiority against peer adversaries is now at significant risk.

The New F-35 Fighter Drama 

The F-35 is able to adapt due to its ability to upgrade. Incremental software “drops” for the F-35 have been a defining element of the 5th-generation aircraft’s maturation and modernization trajectory over a period of several decades.

Each new software configuration has progressively expanded the jet’s weapons envelope, sensing, and overall performance parameters, yet the most recent and extremely critical Block 4 software upgrade is encountering developmental and production delays.

U.S. Air Force Major Kristin “BEO” Wolfe, F-35A Lightning ll Demonstration Team pilot and commander, flies during sunset over Mathers Airport, Calif., Sept. 24th, 2021, at the California Capital Airshow. The team consists of approximately 15 total Airmen to include the pilot and commander, pilot safety officers, superintendent, team chief, maintenance Airmen, aircrew flight equipment specialists, and public affairs personnel. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Barley)

A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says the completion of Block 4 will be at least five years behind original estimates.

F-35 Block 4 Upgrade: 5 Years Late

“After years of cost growth and schedule delays in its hardware and software modernization effort for the F-35 aircraft, known as Block 4, the Department of Defense is in the process of establishing a new major subprogram to help meet cost, schedule, and performance goals. Currently, Block 4 costs are over $6 billion more and completion is at least 5 years later than original estimates. The program plans to reduce the scope of Block 4 to deliver capabilities to the warfighter at a more predictable pace than in the past,” the GAO report states.

The success and implementation of Block 4 hinges upon the continued production of a technological upgrade to the F-35 referred to as Tech-Refresh 3, something which introduces new generations of computer processing power into the jet.

“Much like a new mobile cell phone or personal computer, TR-3 will host new Block 4 capabilities and applications with significantly more computing power and memory than the legacy infrastructure,” Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, F-35 Program Executive Officer, said in an essay published by Lockheed.

F-35 at Risk?

The implications of these delays upon the F-35’s ability to meet current threats are potentially significant, given that the new software drops enable the ability to fire new weapons.

Block 4, in particular, enables the F-35 to fire weapons such as the new ultra-high-tech, long-range AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile.

This air-to-air and air-to-ground attack weapon is more precise, less detectable, and more lethal. It has a longer range than the existing AIM-120 AMRAAM, as it was engineered specifically to address the changing threat equation.

A delay with this weapon, therefore, could potentially limit or even imperil the F-35’s attack ability in an engagement with 5th-generation Russian or Chinese aircraft.

Details of the AIM-260 are not fully available publicly for security reasons, yet its arrival could prove critical to the continued relevance of the F-35.

A pilot from the 34th Fighter Squadron conducts pre-flight preparations in the cockpit of an F-35A Lighting II on the tarmac at Santa Maria Airport, Calif., during Bamboo Eagle 24-3. During Bamboo Eagle, the 388th Fighter Wing is functioning as a force element at a “spoke location,” providing fifth-generation airpower to a larger force operating in the eastern Pacific region. The spoke locations are smaller than an airbase, a cluster of tents, a small footprint of equipment and personnel. (U.S. Air Force photo by Micah Garbarino)

As has been the case throughout the multi-year trajectory of the F-35, software “drops,” “adaptations,” “interfaces,” and fire control specs are needed to accommodate new generations of weapons as they appear, so a delay in the integration of Block 4 means the AIM-260 simply will not fire from the F-35.

Stormbreaker & AARGM-ER

Block 4 also enables the F-35 to fire the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile Extended Range, a significant air-attack weapon engineered to identify and destroy ground-based enemy air defenses emitting an electronic signature.

The ER or “extended range” component of this is highly significant, as it is designed to enable a manned fighter jet to target and attack air defenses from safer stand-off ranges.

The most significant impact of the Block 4 delay, however, likely pertains to a critically important weapon known as the Stormbreaker, a guided air-dropped bomb capable of tracking and destroying targets at ranges up to 40 nautical miles.

In development for many years by Raytheon, the Stormbreaker incorporates a now-famous “tri-mode seeker,” meaning it can leverage radio frequency (RF), laser, or all-weather millimeter wave guidance and targeting technology.

The weapon is also engineered with a two-way data link enabling retargeting and in-flight adjustments.

Tactically speaking, the GBU-53/B Stormbreaker can track a moving target through fog or weather obscurants from great distances and adjust course as needed. This much-anticipated weapon will greatly multiply and expand the F-35’s attack capabilities in more dynamic modern threat environments.

Block 4 also increases the overall size of the weapons arsenal with which the F-35A and F-35C can fly due to the addition of a “Sidekick” weapons rack, expanding the internal weapons-carrying capacity of the jets from four to six missiles.

China and Russia Gain by F-35 Problems 

Given available information about Russia’s Su-57 and China’s J-20, it seems reasonable to posit that Block 4 delays could slow down or compromise the necessary pace at which the Pentagon’s F-35 can sustain air superiority.

J-20 Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

About the Author: Kris Osborn

Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

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