Lockheed Martin, a U.S. weapons manufacturer, has lowered its delivery forecast for F-35 jets for the year due to delays in the development of an updated version of the aircraft caused by supplier L3Harris Technologies.
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The company's largest program has caused a 4.7% drop in shares while L3Harris has seen a 1.3% decrease. The new delivery forecast for the year is now at 97 aircraft, compared to the previous estimate of 100 to 120 jets.
Despite this setback, Lockheed has maintained its financial outlook for the year. The company has projected the delivery of the first TR-3 aircraft between April and June 2024, after previously expecting to have it ready by the end of this year. The delay in development is due to challenges faced by L3Harris in creating the Integrated Core Processor (ICP), such as unexpected difficulties in hardware and software development, component and system integration testing, and system qualification testing.
Lockheed has responded to these challenges by sending employees to L3Harris to assist in hardware delivery and working with RTX on their delivery of the Next Gen Electro-Optical Digital Aperture System. L3Harris has stated that it overcame the initial design issues and delivered a fully qualifiable ICP to Lockheed over a year ago and is committed to the F-35 program.