Lockheed gets $115M to update F-35 navigation gear

Lockheed Martin has received a $114.6 million order to redesign two key navigation systems on the F-35 Lightning II, the GPS electronic unit and the NAV100 inertial navigation system, replacing electronic parts that are going out of production so the stealth fighter can keep rolling off the line.

The cost-plus-fixed-fee order, announced on Oct. 23, 2026, covers nonrecurring engineering, redesign, integration, qualification and testing of both systems. The new designs will swap in replacements for obsolete components while keeping the same performance and compatibility with the electronics already flying on the jet, so the updated units can be fitted without changes elsewhere on the aircraft. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Maryland, issued the order without competition under an existing basic ordering agreement.

The two systems work together to tell the F-35 where it is. The GPS electronic unit processes signals from navigation satellites, while the inertial navigation system tracks the aircraft’s position, speed and heading using onboard motion sensors and keeps working when satellite signals are jammed or unavailable. Both feed the targeting, flight and mission systems that the pilot and the jet’s weapons rely on.

The problem the order addresses is a common one in long-running aircraft programs, known as diminishing manufacturing sources: suppliers stop making specific chips and electronic parts years before the aircraft that use them are retired. The Department of War said the redesigns are intended to prevent production disruptions and support continued production and sustainment of F-35s for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the program’s international partners.

Most of the work, 70.1%, will take place in El Segundo, California, with 27.5% in Fort Worth, Texas, where Lockheed Martin builds the F-35, and 2.4% in Clearwater, Florida. The effort is expected to be completed in January 2030.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy are each contributing about $46.4 million from fiscal 2026 aircraft procurement funds, and F-35 cooperative program partners are providing about $21.8 million.

The navigation work comes days after the Department of War and Lockheed Martin unveiled a framework for a 10-year F-35 production and sustainment deal covering 850 aircraft for the United States at a rate of 156 jets a year across all customers. Keeping parts like these available is a precondition for holding that production rate, and the redesigned GPS and inertial navigation units are scheduled to complete testing and qualification by early 2030.