F-35 Lightning IIs to Get New Electronic Warfare Systems as Part of Block 4 Upgrade

TR-3 is a suite meant to upgrade the plane’s core processing power and memory capacity for it to be able to handle updates coming the plane’s way through the Block 4 package. That would be a total of 75 upgrades, including better sensors and electronic warfare features, and the capacity to handle more long-range precision weapons – all of them changes meant to make the F-35 a weapon to be feared in the decades ahead as well.

The test performed at the beginning of the year was the first flight of the plane in this configuration. It flew at an altitude of 35,000 feet (10 km) and reached speeds of 767 mph (1,234 kph). Those are numbers that have nothing out of the ordinary about them. But they were enough to get military people all worked up about the changes and continue pushing for them to arrive faster.

This week, we learned of the next move on the F-35 Lightning II Block 4 front: the Brits from BAE Systems, already involved in the production of the fighter airplane, were given a contract to develop and deliver Block 4 electronic warfare (EW) systems.

The company making the plane, Lockheed Martin, will give BAE $491 million for the new and improved EWs. They should “offer greater situational awareness, enhanced survivability, and increased capabilities to counter modern threats,” and they will also be upgradeable, making it easier for the planes to receive further updates down the line.

We do not know the exact specifications of the Block 4 EW, but BAE Systems says the improved hardware and software should allow the F-35s of the future not only to detect difficult-to-observe threats, but also more of them at the same time. Pilots will be able to see what’s going on around the plane in a 360-degree bubble of electronic surveillance, and they will also be capable of fighting off potential dangers.

The EW is officially called AN/ASQ-239 and comprises radar, targeting support, and countermeasures.

The American military will continue to fly the Block 4-ready F-35 Lightning II equipped with TR-3 throughout the year, although an exact release date for the first fully updated airplane is not yet known.

It may seem a bit strange for a plane that has been around for just 17 years to have already reached Block 4 configuration, but such is the rapidly evolving world we live in.