This thing is now already taking so long that important parts of it are already obsolete, years before it is coming on line.
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, has been awarded a $149 million Naval Air Systems Command contract for the “the redesign and qualification of replacement F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Electronic Warfare system components due to current diminishing manufacturing sources,” according to a Defense Department contract announcement.
This change is a technology refresh beginning with aircraft in Low-Rate Initial Production Lot 7 that is necessitated by diminishing manufacturing sources, otherwise known as parts obsolescence. Hardware modules within the EW System are being updated with new components to address these obsolescence issues.