Will Lockheed Martin re-compete F-35 communications, navigation, and electronic warfare

A shake-up may be coming for the F-35 supply base, as Lockheed Martin considers opening up new competitions for the jet’s electronic warfare and communications systems. The goal of re-competing these military avionics systems is to drive down the life-cycle costs of key F-35 technologies — especially during operations and sustainment — by forcing defense firms to face off against each other. Lockheed Martin has sent out a request for information to a handful of defense contractors who specialize in such advanced avionics technologies. BAE Systems currently provides electronic warfare (EW) systems for the fighter aircraft, while Northrop Grumman supplies communications, navigation, and identification (CNI) systems for the F-35. In its quest to cut costs on the program, Lockheed already has re-competed several systems, including the aircraft’s memory system and the panoramic cockpit display. Most notably, the company confirmed in June that Raytheon would produce a new version of the distributed aperture system, or DAS, which would save $3 billion over the cost of the program.