Photo Credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon
Lockheed Martin an American defense company, raised its sales goal for the year on Tuesday. This was because deliveries of its F-35 fighter jets started up again after the Pentagon started taking them last week, which was a surprise.
In pre-market trading, shares of the company based in Bethesda, Maryland, were up 2.3%.
It took months of delays on its software change before the U.S. could receive more F-35s. Under the Technology Refresh 3 program, Lockheed has been making improvements to the jets. These changes have made the F-35’s screens and processing power better.
The delivery resume includes software upgrades that aren’t fully finished yet, and the Pentagon will hold back some payment (the specifics of which are unknown) until the rest of the improvements are made.
Lockheed’s F-35 is the biggest military project in the world, and it brings in about 30% of the company’s income.
“The F-35 remains a top priority, and we recently delivered the first TR-3-configured aircraft to the customer and anticipate deliveries for 2024 to meet our expected range of 75-110 F-35s,” said Jim Taiclet, the CEO.
TR-3 makes changes to both the hardware and the software, and it is seen as a key part of Block 4, which is a larger plan to improve the stealth jet.
The changes “are critical steps in ensuring the F-35 remains the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world and the key air vehicle node in the DoD’s joint all domain architecture,” he said.
Lockheed does not think the full tech refresh package will be ready for months, though.
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