F-35's Technology Refresh 3 Version with Increased Computing Power Marks First Flight

The U.S. Air Force conducted the first flight of an F-35 Lightning II in the Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3, configuration January 6 at Edwards Air Force Base.
TR-3 provides the computational horsepower to support modernized Block 4 capabilities for the F-35 including: new sensor suites, more long-range precision weapons, improved electronic warfare features, more powerful data fusion, and increased cross-platform interoperability.
These capabilities provide the F-35 pilot to identify, track, engage, and survive against advanced air, ground, and cyber threats. TR-3 significantly updates core processing power and memory capacity, which will allow the F-35 to run advanced software packed with state-of-the-art warfighting capabilities.
Maj. Ryan Luersen, a U.S. Air Force experimental test pilot, piloted the mission in tail number AF-7, a specially instrumented flight test aircraft and the first with TR-3 upgrades installed.

The 50-minute flight, which took the jet to 35,000 feet at speeds just shy of the speed of sound above the Mojave Desert, marked the start of an extensive flight test campaign which will last through 2023, a U.S.A.F. release said.
Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, F-35 Joint Program Office program executive officer remarked: “TR-3 is the F-35’s critical computer processing electronics upgrade that will continue to provide all our pilots with the capability they need to be successful against any adversary."
Lessons learned in the execution of the TR-3 program will be applied across the entire Block 4 modernization program.