Lockheed Martin [LMT] delivered 89 of 98 F-35s late last year–the highest rate in six years, and RTX‘s [RTX] Pratt & Whitney delivered all 137 F135 engines for the fighter late in 2023, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report.
Prior to 2023 figures for the F-35 late deliveries are 38 of 91–42 percent–late in 2018, 17 of 134–13 percent–in 2019, 50 of 120–42 percent–in 2020, 22 of 142–18 percent–in 2021, and 71 of 141–50 percent–in 2022, according to the
report, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Program Continues to Encounter Production Issues and Modernization Delays (GAO-24-106909).
For its research, GAO said that it interviewed officials from the F-35 program, the Pentagon Directorate of Operational Test and Evaluation, Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney.
More than two decades after Lockheed Martin won the JSF contract in 2001, the fighter entered full-rate production in March.
The parts’ supply chain; engine quality control; a December, 2022 crash that halted plane deliveries for three months; and the $1.8 billion Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3) hardware and software upgrade to power the future Block 4 weapons and sensors for the F-35 had a large role in the late aircraft deliveries in 2023.
Lockheed Martin said last month that F-35s with the full TR-3 will field next year and that the company still plans to deliver 75 to 110 F-35s this year (Defense Daily, Apr. 23).
“Issues with developing and delivering TR-3 hardware and software were a significant driver for late deliveries in 2023,” GAO said in the new report. “Specifically, Lockheed Martin is taking longer to develop, test, and deliver TR-3 hardware and software than originally planned. While Lockheed Martin is working to improve its TR-3 development issues, it continues to produce aircraft at the contracted rate without TR-3 fully installed. The program will not accept those aircraft, however, until TR-3 is fully installed.”
The F-35 Joint Program Office said recently that a March 27 settlement between the Department of the Navy and Lockheed Martin on a more than four-year-old case on data rights for the F-35 will spur improved organic software development by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps (Defense Daily, May 13).
“Ongoing supply chain issues are a major factor causing an increase in parts shortages, leading to work being performed out of its assigned production station, and creating
additional risk of late deliveries,” GAO said in the new report. “For example, one reason that aircraft production is falling further behind schedule is shortages of the flap on the front of the wing caused by tooling, staffing, and raw material constraints.”
GAO also said that the rate of tardy delivery of the Pratt & Whitney F135 has dipped below 85 percent only once since 2018–72 percent in 2020. Last year, “engines were delivered more than two months late, on average, compared with one month late in 2022,” per the report. “Defense Contract Management Agency officials attributed late engine deliveries over the past year to hardware issues, such as late delivered parts and engines failing a specification or requirement during testing.”
“In addition, Pratt & Whitney continued its practice of halting engine deliveries as it discovered quality issues with parts, which further contributed to these delays,” GAO said.
DoD has estimated that total F-35 costs for 2,470 planned planes through 2088 will exceed $2 trillion.