By: Lisa Aucoin, Vice President of F-35 Solutions

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Leading this strategically important portfolio of programs is thrilling. Electronic Warfare (EW) threats are evolving at a rapid pace, with adversaries attacking in ways never seen before, and F-35 programs are poised to lead our warfighters against those adversaries.

Now that I’m 100 days into my role as vice president of F-35 Solutions in the Electronic Combat Solutions (ECS) business area at BAE Systems, I took some time to reflect and want to share my thoughts on the journey so far.

First, let me start with the people. I have the pleasure of serving at the helm of an incredibly passionate and dedicated team, laser-focused on our mission of protecting those who protect us. It is also clear that we run a truly great business with the metrics to prove it.

We have some goals for improvement, including finding ways to adopt a culture of decisional velocity, which our entire industry needs in order to continue thriving. That means building key efficiencies, and accepting new and innovative ideas, and leaning in to BAE Systems Electronic Combat Solutions (ECS)’ strategy.

So with all that in mind, here's what's next for F-35 Electronic Warfare:

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- We will design and develop next-generation EW capability that is production-ready for Lot 17 in 2024 in a way that critical modules and sub-systems can be re-used across all ECS programs to reduce cost and cycle time in design, production and sustainment – we call this Leverage.
- We will stand up manufacturing and test equipment and onboard suppliers as part of our ramp from 22 ship sets to 45 ships sets per month and introduce the Block 4 configuration into the manufacturing line concurrent with the DTIP configuration.
- With the increased number of the F-35 aircraft soon to be operational across the globe, we need to do our part in reducing the cost per flight hour to maintain the aircraft. In 2022, we will renew our EW Performance Based Logistics (PBL) program, which will drive down maintenance costs and repair turnaround time so warfighters have reliable, EW capability when they need it.
- Our EW Development team is working on advanced capabilities that will enable us to address rapidly evolving threats that can be deployed across many platforms.

In summary, over the past 100 days I have seen a team dedicated, and hyper-focused on battle ahead of us, to deliver excellent product at the speed of need. This positions us to resist challenges for competition, and stay at the cutting edge of technology. I hope you’ll follow along on our exciting progress!

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