So, the Block 4 upgrades enabled by TR-3 are quite imposing, increasing the range and diversity of weapons that can be carried, plus the sensitivity of sensors used to detect, track and engage targets.

The F-35 needs to be enhanced to surpass the capabilities those countries might be fielding in ten or twenty years. One advantage of this approach is that it minimizes the likelihood of users becoming dependent on specific vendors for system improvements.īut once TR-3 is underway, the hard part begins, because it isn’t enough to improve other onboard hardware and software to stay ahead of what China or Russia might be doing today.

In addition to greatly increasing the F-35’s processing power and computer memory, the technology refresh will migrate to an open-system architecture designed to facilitate further upgrades in the future. The retrofits require about 14 days of downtime and will be performed by Lockheed field teams during scheduled maintenance. TR-3 is being installed in all new production aircraft including the Lot 15 aircraft being delivered today, and will be retrofitted onto fighters already in the fleet back to Lot 10.

It thus is pivotal to implementing Block 4. TR-3 is described by people close to the effort as the “IT backbone” for all future improvements. The fighter’s previous computing system, TR-2, is not adequate to support the capability upgrades included in Block 4. This is accomplished via an upgrade called Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3. However, before these changes can be implemented, the fighter’s core processor and memory unit must be improved.

F35 current us main battle tank