Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, head of the F-35 Joint Program Office, has revealed that flight tests on the update to the F-35 fighter jet’s Block 3i software is near complete after contractors worked to fix identified software bugs, Defense News reported Tuesday.
Bogdan said Lockheed Martin determined the software flaw, released a patch and began testing for the updated software load, Lara Seligman reports.
He also cited Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems for providing the sensors, according to the report.
Seligman writes the software bugs found in the original 3i software caused the fighter jet’s system to shut down once every four hours and required a system reboot.
Bogdan said the F-35 team has noted stable operations as they completed 96 hours of flights with the new software, with testing set to conclude by the end of this week.
He added that he will decide then if the program will move forward with the 3i update and, if so, eventually incorporate the software patch into the existing jets and the next increment of F-35 software called Block 3F, the report said.
The U.S. Air Force is expected to declare initial operational capability for the F-35 by Aug. 1, Defense News reports.
