US Marine Corps receives F-35B fighters without radars: what military procurement tells us about technology dependency

As of June 2026, the U.S. Marine Corps had taken delivery of six F-35B Lightning II aircraft without their primary radar systems installed. The Joint Program Office confirmed the fighters are awaiting the next-generation AN/APG-85 radar from Northrop Grumman, which has faced development and production delays. The Air Force is expected to face similar gaps in some of its F-35A deliveries.

Knowledge point: military procurement and technology dependency

The F-35 program — the most expensive weapons system in history at over $2 trillion lifetime cost — illustrates a fundamental tension in advanced technology procurement. When a single component like a radar is uniquely complex and supplied by a single vendor, any delay in that component cascades across the entire system. Accepting aircraft without radars allows the military to begin pilot training, maintenance familiarization, and logistics setup, but it also means these aircraft cannot perform their primary combat functions. This "deliver now, upgrade later" approach is increasingly common as weapons systems grow more software-dependent.

The broader lesson

The same dynamic plays out in civilian technology supply chains: from smartphone components to automotive chips, single points of failure in complex supply networks create vulnerability. The F-35 radar delay is a textbook case of how concentration risk — relying on one supplier for a critical component — affects even the best-funded procurement programs in the world.