Summary 301st Fighter Wing at Texas base temporarily receives two F-35As designated for Hill AFB in Utah. Tech refresh issues delayed F-35 deliveries to the 301st Fighter Wing. Lockheed has now delivered over 1,000 F-35 jets.
The US Air Force is slowly transitioning to the new F-35A, and now, the 301st Fighter Wing has received two F-35As as it transitions from F-16s. According to a 301st Fighter Wing statement , the unit will be the Air Force Reserve's first standalone F-35 unit and receive 26 of the jets in total. However, it has taken possession of two F-35s built for another air wing.
The US Air Force is receiving the F-35A variant of the F-35 (the Navy is buying the F-35C, and the Marines are mostly buying the F-35B) . 301st temporarily receives two Hill Base F-35s The 301st Fighter Wing in Texas has temporarily received two brand-new F-35A fighter jets at their base at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth. These two jets have tail codes marked with "HL" as they are designated for Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
“These brand new jets have not been to Hill yet, but they will eventually head there. We’re temporarily using these fighters until then.”- Spokesperson for the 301st Fighter Wing The 301st Fighter Wing had been expecting to receive their first F-35s this summer, but issues with the Technology Refresh 3 update with the jets have meant Lockheed could not deliver the jets.
Still, it is unclear if the wing temporarily receiving the jets is due to the hold-up. The Air & Space Magazine stated, " The 301st Fighter Wing declined to comment on whether the temporary stationing of Hill F-35s at the Texan base was due to Lockheed’s delivery hold. " "Today's arrival of F-35s is part of a scheduled plan to receive all the aircraft over the next 12-15 month.
As we continue to receive aircraft and transition into sustainable operations, we will leverage opportunities to increase all of our Airmen’s F-35 competencies and proficiencies.” - 301st Fighter Wing commander The base expects to receive the first jets in November (when it plans to have the official first aircraft arrival ceremony). It is then expected to receive more over the next 12 to 15 months.
Lockheed has an annual F-35 production rate of around 150 per year. That includes all variants, and many of those jets are exported. The DoD is set to start receiving F-35 jets even without the full TR-3 tech refresh upgrade completed on them.
Clearing the F-35 backlog At one point, Lockheed reportedly had over 100 F-35s stored at its facilities, but the DoD refused delivery . Eventually, a temporary compromise was reached that allowed Lockheed to resume deliveries. The defense contractor recently stated it has now delivered over 1,000 F-35s .
However, the delay has caused issues with timetables for units scheduled to transition to the new platform. It is expected to be quite a challenge for Lockheed to clear the backlog fully. Not all US air wings are transiting to the new fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet.
Some are upgrading their legacy F-15C/Ds with the new F-15EX Eagle II fighter jet (deliveries of the F-15EX have only just begun)..
