14 November 2019

Pentagon, Lockheed Martin continue dispute over F-35 intellectual property rights

by Pat Host

The dispute between Pentagon and Lockheed Martin over F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) intellectual property (IP) rights has continued to delay the integration of the key computer code required for the programme to reach its full rate production (FRP) decision, Jane’s has learned.

Lieutenant General Eric Fick, F-35 programme executive officer (PEO), said on 13 November that the initial integration of the ‘F-35-in-a-Box’ model into the Joint Simulation Environment (JSE) has been held up in a dispute between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin over the IP for nine individual algorithms. This has slowed the Pentagon’s progress in getting started with the programme.

The ongoing conflict between Lockheed Martin and the US Air Force over F-35 IP rights has contributed to the recently announced full rate production decision delay. (US Air Force)

Dan Grazier, military fellow with the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) watchdog group in Washington, DC, told Jane’s on 13 November that F-35-in-a-Box is the code for the JSE. The JSE is a US Navy (USN) facility that simulates high-end missions such as super dense, highly-integrated air defence networks that range restrictions or operational security concerns prevent from being performed on a range. The Pentagon delayed its FRP decision for the F-35 due to its lack of progress with the JSE, which is required to properly function for the Pentagon to move beyond the initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) phase.

The dispute between Pentagon and Lockheed Martin over F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) i...

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