Spiritual Minded Military Washington DC Air National Guard: Why Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Still Has Shortfalls Despite a Record Year of Deliveries—The Shortfall Protocol
THE FIGHTER JET THAT STILL ISN'T PERFECT
The Fighter Jet that Is Not Perfect!
The F-35 Lightning II is the most costly weapons program ever. The lifetime cost will be more than $2 trillion. The jet has accumulated more than a million hours of flying time. It has been used in war in Iran, Iraq, and Syria. It has downed enemy air defenses and hit key targets.
Lockheed Martin has delivered 191 F-35s in 2025. That is a record. That's the most any year has recorded in the program's history.
The game was on! The checks were drawn on the Pentagon. It was accepted by the Air Force.
And the shortfalls remain.
The F-35 is flown by the 113th Wing at Joint Base Andrews. The fleet is maintained by Washington DC Air National Guardsmen. They train. They deploy. They watch television news. They realize that the jets are not in working order.
The good year in delivery did not help the software. The record year did not help the availability rate. It wasn't a record year for pilots, but they were promised more than they were given.
"The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty." — Proverbs 22:3
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WHY THE F-35 HAD A RECORD YEAR OF DELIVERIES
The figures are staggering. Lockheed Martin has supplied 191 F-35s in 2025. It extends the previous record of 142, set in 2021.
It was not a perfect jet that caused the surge. The surge was caused by the jets having been stored for a year.
The Pentagon has ceased accepting new F-35s in July 2023. The software (Tech Refresh 3) was not available. TR-3 was supposed to give the F-35 37 times more processing power and 20 times more memory. Hardware installed. The software was broken.
Lockheed went ahead and made the jets anyway. They left them at facilities in Fort Worth, Texas. Dozens of brand new F-35s were in 'warm storage' for months.
The floodgates opened. Lockheed began to release stored jets and new production jets at the same time. The 191 deliveries in 2025 were not breakthrough deliveries but catch-up deliveries.
The fact that we have had a record year of deliveries does not mean there has been a record year of readiness.
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THE PROBLEMS LOCKHEED MARTIN STILL CAN'T IGNORE
The F-35 has 5.7 million lines of code. There were 1000 lines on the Vietnam-era F-4. The F-22 has 1.7 million lines. The enemy of complexity is complexity.
The Pentagon's Director of Operational Test and Evaluation published their annual report for 2025. The results were shocking.
The newest TR-3 software version, known as 40R02, is "unsuitable for dedicated operational testing." The latest TR-2 software build, called 30R08, was "predominantly unusable" for most of the year.
The F-35 program, meanwhile, "has failed to demonstrate any improvement" in its schedule and performance timelines in developing and testing software, the report said. A "fix-fly-fix" development cycle has been in operation for almost four years.
The net result: FY25 saw no new combat capability introduced.
The TR-2 software is still in use today for the F-35s that are conducting combat missions. The jets fired at Iran, and those that hit targets in Operation Midnight Hammer are not the upgraded systems.
Modification of Block 4 is being reduced as it was intended to provide 66 new capabilities. The following capabilities are further down the road and will not be achieved until the early 2030s.
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WHAT THE F-35 SHORTFALLS MEAN FOR PILOTS AND MISSIONS
Pilots at the 113th Wing practice flying F-35s. They fly. They practice. They train fighting techniques. They're not using the maximum capability of the aircraft.
Training is possible with the truncated TR-3 software. Does not support all integration of weapons. It does not offer the complete sensor fusion. It lacks the electronic warfare capabilities that Block 4 was supposed to bring.
In 2025, the Dutch F-35s shot down Russian drones over Poland while operating with an older software. The upgraded systems were not being used by American F-35s to suppress Iranian air defenses.
The pilots have a hand tied behind their backs. Not because the enemy is superior. Because the software isn't ready.
The people who maintain the jets at Joint Base Andrews work on incomplete jets. They fix systems that have been rushed into service. They solve issues that have been addressed years ago.
The pilots are prepared. The pilots are in place. The jets are not.
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THE MAINTENANCE CHALLENGE BEHIND THE WORLD'S MOST ADVANCED FIGHTER
The F-35 isn't a software issue! The F-35 is a maintenance bane.
The FY 2024 DOD audit of the F-35s showed they were airborne for approximately 50 percent of the year. Half the fleet. Grounded. Not due to the combat damage. Due to parts availability, maintenance delays, and contractor mismanagement.
The Pentagon spent about $1.7 billion for the sustainment contract but did not use economic adjustments in that figure. The metrics did not meet requirements. The payments continued.
In the broader Air Force fleet, mission-capable rates fell to 67 percent in 2024 and are the lowest they have been in at least 10 years. A few individual fleets had rates under 50 percent, such as F-22 and B-1.
Commonality on allied fleets was supposed to make for easier sustainment in the F-35. Rather, it has turned into a textbook example of a contractor's accountability failure.
The 113th Wing maintainers at Joint Base Andrews know this reality. They work on jets that are not available. They wait for parts that do not arrive. They improvise when the supply chain fails.
The jet is advanced. The support system is not.
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CAN THE F-35 DELIVER FULL COMBAT READINESS?
Not yet. Not soon.
The TR-3 software will not be fully completed until 2025 at the earliest. The Block 4 capabilities will trickle out through the early 2030s. The sustainment contracts need to be restructured. The accountability needs to be enforced.
The Government Accountability Office reported that the Block 4 upgrade will now have "fewer capabilities, will experience schedule delays, and will have unknown costs." The original 66 capabilities have been cut down. The delivery timeline has slipped years.
The Air Force leadership has issued a directive: "Fly, fix, fight." The words are simple. The execution is not.
The 113th Wing will continue to fly. The maintainers will continue to fix. The pilots will continue to train. They will do their jobs with the aircraft they have, not the aircraft they were promised.
The F-35 will eventually deliver. The question is when. The answer is not this year.
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WHAT THE AIR FORCE IS DOING TO FIX THE GAPS
The F-35 Joint Program Office has a plan. The plan has phases.
Phase one was getting the truncated TR-3 software approved. That happened in July 2024. Deliveries resumed.
Phase two is clearing the backlog. Lockheed estimated 12 to 18 months to deliver the stored jets alongside new production. The backlog was cleared in May 2025.
Phase three is completing the full TR-3 software. The target is 2025. The deadline has slipped multiple times. The confidence is low.
Phase four is Block 4. The original 66 capabilities have been reduced. The new target is the early 2030s.
The Air Force is also pushing for sustainment reform. The Inspector General recommended enforceable performance targets in contracts. Stronger oversight mechanisms. Accountability for Lockheed Martin.
The 113th Wing will see the benefits of these reforms eventually. The maintainers will get better parts supply. The pilots will get more capable software. The wait continues.
The plan exists. The execution is slow.
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THE SHORTFALL PROTOCOL: DETECT, ADAPT, AND OVERCOME
The F-35 program has shortfalls. Your mission does not.
The Shortfall Protocol is not for Lockheed Martin. The Shortfall Protocol is for you.
Detect. Know the gaps. Your aircraft may not have full software. Your unit may not have a full parts supply. Your body may not have full recovery. Identify the shortfall before it becomes a crisis.
Adapt. Work with what you have. The 113th Wing flies F-35s with truncated software. They adapt their training. They adapt their tactics. They do not wait for perfect conditions. They fight with what they have.
Overcome. The shortfall is not the end. The shortfall is a problem to be solved. The maintainers find workarounds. The pilots adjust their techniques. The leaders advocate for resources. The shortfall does not stop the mission.
The Shortfall Protocol applies to your body and spirit as well. Your sleep may be short. Your energy may be low. Your focus may be scattered. Detect the shortfall. Adapt your protocol. Overcome the obstacle.
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"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith." — 2 Timothy 4:7
CONCLUSION: BUILDING A STRONGER F-35 FORCE
The F-35 Lightning II is not perfect. The software is delayed. The sustainment is broken. The availability is low.
The F-35 is also the most advanced fighter in the world. It has no equal. It will get better. The fixes will come. The capabilities will arrive.
The 113th Wing at Joint Base Andrews represents the future. Washington DC Air National Guardsmen fly the jets. They maintain the jets. They fight with the jets. They do not wait for perfect conditions. They execute the mission with what they have.
The Shortfall Protocol is your guide. Detect the gaps. Adapt to the conditions. Overcome the obstacles.
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The record year of deliveries is behind us. The shortfalls remain. The mission continues.
Detect. Adapt. Overcome. Fall in.
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This is the Spiritual Minded Military Shortfall Protocol for the Washington DC Air National Guard. The F-35 has gaps. Your mission does not. Detect. Adapt. Overcome. Fall in.
The Remnant does not transition. The Remnant re-enlists.
Spiritual Minded Military
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