U.S. Navy plans redesign of F-35 mission planning software

The U.S. Navy is preparing a five-year engineering support contract to redesign the F-35 Mission Planning Environment (MPE) software. This ground-based system is used by pilots and mission planners to integrate flight routes, threats, targets, weaponry, and communications before takeoff.

The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, located at China Lake in California, issued a request for information on October 2. The project, part of the ARCHER program, involves systems engineering, architecture analysis, and project management to support the government's software office. While Lockheed Martin provides the F-35 hardware and existing mission planning tools, this specific contract focuses on supporting the government's oversight and requirement definition.

The contract is estimated to be valued between $50 million and $100 million, covering approximately 278,800 work hours. A final request for proposals is expected around January 25, 2027, with a contract award planned for May 20, 2027. The performance period is slated to run from May 2027 through May 2032. The Navy intends to use an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract with a single provider. The work is expected to succeed the current contract held by the Computer Systems Center in Virginia, which expires in June 2027.