The $883.7 billion bill makes several major changes to President Joe Biden's FY25 budget request, including a more narrow approach to transferring Air National Guard units into the Space Force. But budgetary matters will ultimately be decided by congressional appropriators.
U.S. lawmakers propose cutting F-35 orders as undelivered jets accumulate. Over 100 aircraft may await delivery by year's end, requiring an additional year to clear.
Lockheed CEO Jim Taiclet also said that TR-3 upgrade delays for the Joint Strike Fighter stemmed from late hardware, compressing the schedule for software testing.
In an interview with Breaking Defense, Lockheed exec Greg Ulmer pushed back on the Pentagon's complaints about technical data sharing, and said the firm is working with the DoD on better ways to track spare parts.
The fighters require the fix to correct the “harmonic resonance” issue identified as the cause of the crash of an F-35B in December. “This is a very elegant solution,” a Pratt official said.