The Air Force now expects to receive the first Northrop Grumman [NOC] APG-85 radar for the F-35A fighter by Lockheed Martin [LMT] in April 2028--nine months earlier than previously scheduled, according to the service's fiscal 2027 procurement budget document. The fiscal 2025 Air Force budget request had said that full procurement funding would begin in fiscal 2027 with Lot 21 for the first APG-85 to field on an F-35A by January 2029 (Defense Daily, Feb. 25). The APG-85, which thus…