Navy asks Lockheed Martin to redesign components of F-35 cockpit displays avionics to mitigate obsolescence
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – Combat avionics experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will redesign components of the F-35 combat jet's panoramic cockpit displays to mitigate the effects of parts obsolescence under terms of a $16.3 million contract announced in November.
Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics segment in Fort Worth, Texas, to redesign the F-35 panoramic cockpit display electronic unit video mixer for the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and U.S. allies.
Overrun funding
The order is to provide overrun funding for diminishing manufacturing sources non-recurring engineering and associated materials for the F-35 panoramic cockpit display redesign to reduce the effects of component obsolescence.
The aircraft that this order affects are those of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, foreign military sales (FMS) customers, and non-U.S Department of Defense (DOD) participants.
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Lockheed Martin won a $43.6 million order in May 2022 to supervise redesign of the F-35 panoramic cockpit display to help maintain and upgrade the aircraft's large cockpit display.
The F-35 jet fighter-bomber has set new standards for combat aircraft cockpit avionics with its 8-by-20-inch panoramic cockpit display, which the company showed in 2010 at the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, England.
Panoramic display
This large active-matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) is from L3Harris Technologies in Alpharetta, Ga., and from Elbit Systems of America LLC in Fort Worth, Texas. It is an intuitive touch-screen, and can present the F-35 Lightning II pilot with all the information he needs, quickly, and without overwhelming him with too much information.
The panoramic display for the F-35 is divided in two electronically. This design offers full redundancy and enables the display to continue functioning in case of component failure or battle damage.
The panoramic display smart-stitches separate images into one continuous image. It shows a variety of sensor information, attack information, and aircraft status data.
The display reportedly can withstand a puncture or a crack, and still offer all its features on only one side. In a pinch, the F-35 pilot still can rely on his helmet-mounted display in case of catastrophic avionics failure.
On this order Lockheed Martin will do the work in Fort Worth, Texas, and should be finished by January 2029. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Aeronautics online at www.f35.com/f35/index.html, L3Harris Technologies at https://engage.l3harris.com/f-35-mission-critical-technology/p/1, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
