The U.S. Navy awarded $991.1 million to Lockheed Martin Corp. for a total of 432 electronic warfare modification kits for F-35 jets for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, and various allied operators of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
The F-35 is a single-engine jet with stealth technology and capabilities for air-to-air, air-to-ground, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance missions. Its three variants are in service for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy, and for the defense forces of 20 other nations.
More than 1,300 F-35s have been built by Lockheed, with hundreds of program suppliers.
The new electronic warfare package is the result of a collaborative effort involving several major defense firms under Lockheed’s oversight, including BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, and L3Harris.
The kits are part of the modernization process involved in the Technology Refresh-3 effort for existing F-35 jets, to prepare them for entire fleet’s transition to the Block IV technology.
The new contract is modification to a basic ordering agreement between the Pentagon and Lockheed issued in March 2024 as a framework for follow-on deliveries or task orders, previously modified to cover the costs of software and configuration tools, flight test instrumentation, hardware modification, and engine and thermal management studies.
The 41Px Modernized Electronic Warfare Modification kit is a retrofit package (hardware, wiring, processors, and software) that will update the onboard technologies for the aircraft, for example to alert pilots of radar locks and missile threats, help to electronically “hide” the aircraft, interfere with enemy air defenses, and improve targeting or intelligence gathering.
Declassified defense and contract announcements indicate that the kits include internal wiring, harnesses, structural mounts, and plumbing required to hold newer electronic warfare processors and sensors without disrupting the F-35 stealth technology.
Lockheed will carry out its work in Fort Worth, Tex., for completion by March 2032.
