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Air Force Plans $1.7 Billion Retrofit Of APG-85 Radar On 181 F-35As In Lot 17 And Prior

Frank Wolfe

Wednesday, May 6th, 2026

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Air Force Plans $1.7 Billion Retrofit Of APG-85 Radar On 181 F-35As In Lot 17 And Prior

Pictured is a U.S. Air Force photo of an F-35A with the 356th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, as the aircraft lands at Kadena Air Base Japan on March 30.

The Air Force's fiscal 2027 future years defense plan (FYDP) contains more than $1.7 billion to retrofit 181 Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35As in Lot 17 and prior with the future Northrop Grumman [NOC] AN/APG-85 radar. The service has fielded 541 F-35As, and Lot 17 deliveries began last year. The FYDP has $133 million targeted in fiscal 2031 for retrofitting 14 F-35As with APG-85s--a unit cost of $9.5 million per radar, and outside the FYDP the service said it plans to…

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