Defence giant Lockheed Martin has named a new executive to oversee its troubled F-35 stealth fighter programme.
Chauncey McIntosh will take over as general manager of the F-35 business unit on 1 December. He will succeed current programme head Bridget Lauderdale, whom Lockheed says will retire at the end of the year after 38 years with the company.
An electrical engineer by training, McIntosh is currently Lauderdale’s deputy on the F-35 programme, with previous experience leading Lockheed’s integrated warfare systems & sensors business.
“Chauncey is an exceptional leader with distinct qualifications needed to lead the F-35 programme,” says Greg Ulmer, president of Lockheed’s aeronautics division, which includes all fighter production.
McIntosh will take over management of what is arguably Lockheed’s marquee product after a tumultuous 18 months. The company has been in a protracted struggle to fully certify the latest Technical Refresh 3 (TR-3) configuration of the F-35, which offers a more powerful computer to enhance the jet’s suite of onboard communications and data processing systems.
However, Lockheed’s inability to fully address issues with the new hardware and software culminated in July 2023, when the Pentagon announced it would stop accepting new-build F-35s in the TR-3 standard.
The decision halted deliveries for both the US military and overseas customers, all of whom purchase the F-35 through the USA’s Foreign Military Sales system.
As the impasse approached the 12-month mark, frustration grew in Washington and concern has mounted in the capitals of European F-35 operators, including Denmark and most recently Norway.
That prompted the Pentagon to reach a deal with Lockheed that saw F-35 deliveries resume in July with training-only capabilities and a portion of payment for each jet withheld until the TR-3 standard is certified for full combat duty.
The fighters are currently operating with a more “robust combat training capability”, according to the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO), referring to the second increment of a phased plan to deliver fully combat-ready aircraft.
McIntosh will certainly be under pressure to reach that milestone, and secure contracts for the next rounds of production at a time when the Pentagon is increasingly looking to reduce costs, particularly when it comes to aircraft procurement.
The F-35 programme is Lockheed’s largest individual product, according to financial disclosures submitted by the company in August. Even without new aircraft being delivered, the F-35 programme accounted for 25% of total company sales in the first half of 2024.
Lockheed has now handed over more than 1,000 of the aircraft. As of 30 June, the F-35 backlog was 373 aircraft, according to financial disclosures.
Meanwhile, negotiations are ongoing between Lockheed and the JPO for a contract covering the next batch of F-35s under production Lots 18 and 19.
Despite the ongoing issues, international enthusiasm for the single-engined stealth fighter does not appear to have diminished around the world.
Greece signed a letter of offer and acceptance covering up to 40 F-35As in July, while a month later Romania declared its intention to buy 32 of the jets.
Bucharest received speedy approval for the F-35 acquisition from US arms export regulators in September.
