In response to a Simple Flying question, McIntosh described himself as a "steward" of the F-35 program. He explained:
"When I use the term steward, that means it is basically ensuring that for my team, that we are coming alongside our customers, in partnership, that we are providing all necessary recommendations... How do we provide the right recommendations to our customers so they can make right decisions? How do we also look at the development work that we are doing so we can provide capabilities at the speed of relevance? So for me, stewardship is taking all that into account to ensure that we can come alongside and be the best partner for all of our customers. "
According to Air & Space Forces Magazine, despite inflation pressures, the F- 35 price has remained stable. The aircraft continues to serve as a platform for improvement with ongoing tests involving sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), new munitions systems like Auto GCAS—a collision avoidance system—and other innovations.
On March 4, Lockheed Martin announced that flight testing for the AGM-158 family of cruise missiles is underway on the F-35B as part of its Block 4 upgrade. "As part of the F-35’s Block 4 upgrade," said Lockheed Martin in a statement., "AGM-158 strike systems (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and LRASM) are being integrated for external carriage on the F-35B adding more multi-role mission capabilities. " These munitions will enable long-range low- observable strikes against surface and ship targets when deterrence fails.
Pratt & Whitney also celebrated reaching one million flight hours with their exclusive engine for all variants of the F-35—the F135 turbofan engine. Known for its impressive thrust capabilities—28,000 lbf (125 kN) dry thrust and 43,000 lbf (191 kN) afterburning thrust—the engine has consistently met full mission capability rate requirements exceeding94%.
The sustainment infrastructure for the F135 includes several global depot facilities across36 basesand12 ships internationally which supports agile combat employment(ACE).TheengineiscurrentlyundergoinganEngineCoreUpgradeaimedatreducingfuelburnimprovingcoolingandincreasingelectricalpoweroutput.
McIntosh concluded his remarks by saying: "The fact that this airplane has achieved1millionflighthoursIthinkitssomethingthatweshouldcelebrateasamajorsuccessofthisprogramItalsoagainwhilethisplatformistherightplatformwhenwelookatwhywesaythemostcapableplatforminexistencethatmarkerjustkindofcontinuestohighlightanddemonstrateanothermajormilestoneinourjourney"
WithfutureimprovementsliketheF135EngineCoreUpgradeBlock4intheworksalongwithdrone-teamingcapabilitiesrecentlydiscussedbyLockheedMartinCEOJimTaiclettheF-35remainspoisedforcontinuedexcellenceasakeyfighterjet
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