Updated F-35 logistics system coming soon.

• Position: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

MI Over the next couple of months, the F-35 's maintenance and logistics system will undergo a facelift with new hardware and software aimed at reducing the time needed to process data.

Lockheed Martin delivered the newest version of the autonomic logistics information system, or ALIS, on Sept. 1, said Mary Ann Horter, vice president of Lockheed's mission systems and training division. The software update includes new trend analysis and fleet management capabilities.

"Today, we're providing data at the squadron [level]," she said. The update will allow senior leaders to view and age data such as maintenance priorities, failure rates and flight schedules.

F-35 maintainers already employ ALIS to pull data from the aircraft, diagnose problems, order parts and guide the technician through repairs. Pilots can also plan and debrief missions using the system, which has flown more than 12,000 sorties. Horter said.

Lockheed also analyzes that data to measure the performance of the F-35, she said. "If we're seeing failure rates happening that we didn't expect ... that provides us information to see if maybe we need to make a change" to the fighter design or its components.

The new software will undergo flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California and Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland before deploying to other bases in early 2015, she said.

In addition to the software update, Lockheed was scheduled to field new hardware for the system at the end of September, Horter...