Marines Have 6 F-35s Without Radars; USAF Will Get Some Too

TL;DR

The F-35 Joint Program Office is accepting delivery of F-35 aircraft without their radars because of delays in the AN/APG-85 radar system from Northrop Grumman. Six Marine Corps F-35Bs have already been delivered with ballast in place of radars, and Air Force and Navy variants are expected to follow later this year. This is a material program-management and supply-chain disruption for the F-35 Lightning II Program that affects prime and subcontractor delivery schedules and contract performance. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin and subcontractor Northrop Grumman are directly implicated by these delays. Contractors with exposure in radar systems, avionics, or aircraft production IDIQs should expect schedule and capture impacts and must reassess delivery risk, subcontract dependencies, and compliance obligations. Immediate actions should prioritize exposure assessment, capture pipeline rescoring, and close coordination with supply-chain and contracting leads.

Key Points

• What happened: The F-35 Joint Program Office is accepting F-35 deliveries without installed AN/APG-85 radars due to delays in the AN/APG-85 radar system from Northrop Grumman; six Marine Corps F-35Bs delivered with ballast; other service variants to follow.
• Who is affected: NAICS 336411, 334511, 334220, 541330, 541712; DOD, Department of the Navy, United States Marine Corps, Department of the Air Force, F-35 Joint Program Office; market segments include Defense, Aerospace Manufacturing, Military Aircraft, Radar Systems, Electronic Warfare, Defense Electronics, Supply Chain Management.
• Timeline: Air Force and Navy variants will follow later this year.
• What contractors should do NOW: Immediately map current proposals and contracts for exposure to AN/APG-85 delivery risk; rescore opportunity pipelines and bid/no-bid decisions; validate subcontractor schedules with supply-chain leads; notify capture, contracts, and program management; update proposals and mitigation language where appropriate; use Cabrillo Signals products to automate monitoring and decisioning.

Who Is Affected

• Affected market segments at a glance: Defense, Aerospace Manufacturing, Military Aircraft, Radar Systems, Electronic Warfare, Defense Electronics, Supply Chain Management.
• Specific NAICS codes: 336411, 334511, 334220, 541330, 541712.
• Affected agencies and program office: DOD; Department of the Navy; United States Marine Corps; Department of the Air Force; F-35 Joint Program Office.
• Contract vehicles: F-35 Lightning II Program; IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) contracts for aircraft production; Defense Production Act contracts.
• Compliance surfaces to monitor: ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations), DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement), CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification), NIST 800-171 (NIST Special Publication 800-171), EAR.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why are some F-35s being accepted without radars?

A: The Summary reports delays in the AN/APG-85 radar system from Northrop Grumman; as a result, the F-35 Joint Program Office is accepting aircraft delivered with ballast in lieu of the radar.

Q: Which services already received aircraft without radars, and who will receive them next?

A: Six United States Marine Corps F-35Bs have been delivered without radars; Air Force and Navy variants are reported to follow later this year.

Q: What are the contract performance and supply-chain implications for contractors?

A: This represents a program-management and supply-chain issue that affects prime and subcontractor delivery schedules and contract performance, with direct implications for Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Specific contract impacts and remedies (including contract clauses or schedule adjustments) are pending source review.

Definitions

• AN/APG-85 radar system: The radar system referenced in the Summary as delayed and causing aircraft deliveries without installed radars.
• F-35B: The short takeoff/vertical landing variant of the F-35 Lightning II, noted in the Summary as one of the variants delivered without radars.
• F-35 Joint Program Office: The program office referenced in the Summary that is accepting aircraft deliveries without radars.

Intelligence Response

Cabrillo Club already detected this event and delivered this briefing via the Cabrillo Signals War Room. Our platform ties this event to affected NAICS codes, agencies, and contract vehicles and triggers automated pipeline rescoring and capture alerts. Use these Cabrillo products to operationalize your response and keep decision-makers aligned:

• Cabrillo Signals War Room — Already detected this event and delivered this briefing. Continuously monitors regulatory changes, contract vehicles, and policy shifts.
• Cabrillo Signals Match Engine — Automatically rescores opportunity pipelines when events like this shift the competitive landscape.
• Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub — Tracks affected agencies, NAICS codes, and contract vehicles. Saved searches alert when follow-on solicitations appear on SAM.gov (System for Award Management).
• Proposal Studio (Proposal OS) — Use to update proposal content, compliance matrices, and mitigation language tied to supply-chain risk.
• Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker — Run the 9-gate capture management workflow to document bid/no-bid decisions and build an audit-ready record.

Who to notify: Capture Manager — to rescore opportunities and reassess bids; Program Manager / Delivery Lead — to evaluate schedule and performance risk; Supply-Chain Lead — to validate subcontract schedules and mitigation; Contracts/Legal — to review contract remedies and reporting obligations; Security/Compliance Lead — to confirm ITAR/DFARS/CMMC impacts.

First 48-hour playbook

• Hour 0–4: Confirm receipt of this briefing with capture, program, supply-chain, and contracts leads. Launch a rapid exposure inventory of current proposals and awarded contracts tied to F-35 outputs or AN/APG-85 dependencies.
• Hour 4–12: Use Cabrillo Signals Match Engine to rescore active opportunities and flag high-risk pursuits. Create saved searches in Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub for related solicitations and notices.
• Hour 12–24: Run Proposal Studio bid/no-bid assessments for at-risk pursuits. Task Supply-Chain to obtain written schedule confirmations from subcontractors (Northrop Grumman exposure) and identify alternate mitigation paths.
• Hour 24–48: Finalize internal decisioning and communications; update capture plans in Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker and prepare any required notices to contracting officers or primes per contract terms. Start ongoing monitoring with War Room alerts.

Primary hub: Winning Federal Contracts Guide (/insights/winning-federal-contracts)

Related guides: CMMC Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide), CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information)-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide)