{"id":15737,"date":"2026-02-12T08:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=15737"},"modified":"2026-02-12T08:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:37:00","slug":"u-s-military-is-getting-f-35s-with-ballast-instead-of-radars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2026\/02\/12\/u-s-military-is-getting-f-35s-with-ballast-instead-of-radars\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Military Is Getting F-35s With Ballast Instead Of Radars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This project has been a mess since the beginning, and it was always a bad idea for a fighter jet to have just one engine when it will most likely encounter flak. But I suppose if you figure the pilot is expendable, that’s okay. And we’re transitioning to using drones and robots anyway… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/southfront.press\/u-s-military-is-getting-f-35s-with-ballast-instead-of-radars\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Illustrative image showing an F-35 airframe being used in an aircraft recovery training exercise back in 2024. (United States Air Force)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States military has been reportedly receiving F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets without a fully installed onboard radar.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue was first reported by Avionics International<\/a> and the affiliated Defense Daily<\/a> on February 2 and 3. According to the reports, the issue affects F-35s delivered to the military since June of last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These aircraft were planned to receive the new AN\/APG-85 radar, developed to replace the current AN\/APG-81 radar on F-35s in Block 4 upgrade package starting with Production Lot 17. However, the new radar is being affected by delays and has reportedly yet to enter the production stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cF-35 Lightning II aircraft are being built to accommodate the F-35 advanced radar (AN\/APG-85) for [the] U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps,\u201d a spokesperson for the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) told The War Zone<\/a> in February in response to questions about recent reports. \u201cInitial fielding for some F-35 aircraft is planned for Lot 17, which began delivery in 2025 and continues through September 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

These remarks neither confirms nor denies the reports about the radar-less F-35s. Congress is reportedly already informed about the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the production delay, it is reported that the legacy AN\/APG-81 radar \u2014 still used on export F-35s \u2014 requires a completely different mounting system and cannot be easily installed on airframes prepared for the newer radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This issue was highlighted by Representative Rob Wittman, Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and Chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe APG-81 is different than the APG-85, and therefore delivering the aircraft, as currently configured, with an APG-85 radar versus an APG-81 radar is challenging,\u201d said Wittman, according to The Aviationist<\/a>. \u201cThe bulkhead configuration is key because for both of the radars, they are very different.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Just like the AN\/APG-81, the AN\/APG-85 is an active electronically scanned array radar. It is said to be capable of long-range detection and tracking of air targets with high-resolution synthetic aperture mapping capabilities. Not much more is known about the radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make up for the missing radar and maintain aircraft balance, additional ballast has been placed in the nose section of the F-35s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These radar-less jets are reportedly intended to operate alongside fully equipped F-35s, relying on the platform\u2019s advanced data-sharing and network-centric capabilities to receive targeting and situational awareness information. These fighter jets will be far less capable, however, especially considering that the antenna of the radar is a key part of the electronic warfare suite used in the F-35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue is not surprising. The F-35 program has a long history of taking delivery of jets missing certain key features, which were later added on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This project has been a mess since the beginning, and it was always a bad idea for a fighter jet to have just one engine when it will most likely encounter flak. But I suppose if you figure the pilot is expendable, that’s okay. And we’re transitioning to using drones and robots anyway… https:\/\/southfront.press\/u-s-military-is-getting-f-35s-with-ballast-instead-of-radars\/ Illustrative […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15740,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15737\/revisions\/15740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}