The US military has discovered defects in the software of the F-35 fighter jets of the Block 4 version. According to Bloomberg, they relate to the processes of using weapons, communication, navigation, cybersecurity and target setting. But despite this, Block 4 is installed on airplanes.
The software for the F-35 is developed and updated in blocks . The first two blocks, Block 1A and Block 1B, were enough to begin initial flight training on the aircraft. With Block 2B, the fighter received combat capabilities for the Marine Corps, and with Block 3i - for the US Air Force.
The Block 2B and Block 3i software versions consistently experienced failures. In Block 2B — once every eight hours, in Block 3i - about once every 15 hours. Because of this, for example, in 2016 at the Hill Air Base in Utah, only one F-35 out of six was able to take to the air on alert. For the remaining five aircraft, the software canceled the inclusion of part of the onboard equipment due to a malfunction. In the same year, an error in Block 3i jeopardized the operation of the fighter's radar.
In 2019, the fighter software was updated to the Block 3F version. With it, four basic modes became available to the F-35: offensive and defensive combat against aircraft, suppression or destruction of air defense objects, fire support from the air of ground troops, as well as attacks on strategic and moving targets.
The F-35 software upgrade to the Block 4 version began in 2020. With it, new types of weapons become available to fighters, including B61-12 thermonuclear bombs . In addition, their radars will receive a high-resolution wide-angle synthesized aperture mode. This will allow them to better detect targets, mainly ground targets.
The annual report of the military, obtained by Bloomberg, says that during tests, defects were found in the updated software of the F-35. They relate to the processes of using weapons, communication, navigation, cybersecurity and target setting. This required software modification, time and resources, which led to delays. Nevertheless, "raw, and insufficiently tested" software is installed on fighters.
Upgrading the F-35 to the modern Block 4 standard is expensive, so the US Air Force decided to use the F-35A Lightning II fighters of the early series as "aggressors". This is the name of the aircraft depicting the enemy during the exercises.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva