As development and testing of the APG-85 are delayed by cooling and power-consumption challenges, new fighters are rolling off the assembly line with empty nose pods.
To maintain aerodynamic balance and flight characteristics, ballast is installed in the aircraft’s nose.
The AN/APG-85 is an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system designed by Northrop Grumman for the Lockheed Martin F-35
As of February 13, 2026, the U.S. Air Force has officially denied reports that it received F-35 fighters with “empty radomes.”
-Instead, the USAF clarified that Lot 17 aircraft are currently delivering with the older AN/APG-81 radar sets
However, I read online that those do NOT fit in the F35 radome
-These setbacks contribute to the F-35’s ballooning lifecycle cost, now estimated at a staggering $2.1 trillion through the 2070s.
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