The House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) version of the fiscal 2025 defense authorization bill would require DoD to submit a report on the impact of Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] ownership of data rights for the F-35 fighter, according to an en bloc amendment by Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the HASC readiness panel.
“The committee is concerned about the long-term sustainment and maintenance implications of commercial owned intellectual property and closed software system[s] on the F-35,” Garamendi’s amendment said. “The committee directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment to provide a report to the House Committee on Armed Services by March 1, 2025, on the impact of the reliance on a single contractor for commercially owned software; the ability to implement open competition for sustainment and maintenance; the current and future use of government referenced architecture; the exploration of alternative design choices such as programmable panoramic cockpit displays; and any other items relevant to the department’s ability to reduce costs and increase the availability of the F-35.”
A March 27 settlement between the Department of the Navy and Lockheed Martin [LMT] on a more than four-year-old case on data rights for the F-35 fighter will spur improved organic software development by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps, the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) said (Defense Daily, May 13).
The settlement “paves the way for users to begin integrating current F-35 operational software” into the Joint Simulation Environment, and “to prepare for follow-on test and evaluation of Block 4 capabilities,” the F-35 JPO said.