Honeywell Aerospace has introduced a 40-kilowatt Power and Thermal Management System (PTMS) upgrade for the F-35, increasing cooling capacity from approximately 32 kW to 40 kW.
The P40 upgrade combines software changes with targeted liquid-cooling enhancements and does not require modifications to the aircraft structure. It can also be incorporated alongside the F-35’s planned Engine Core Upgrade during scheduled maintenance.
The additional cooling capacity is intended to support the increasing thermal requirements of sensors, mission systems, and onboard processing equipment as the aircraft receives further upgrades.
Honeywell expects the P40 system to enter service between 2029 and 2030. The company says the upgrade uses the existing PTMS architecture, reducing the need for changes to aircraft integration, qualification, and established maintenance infrastructure.
The PTMS performs 14 mission- and safety-critical functions on the F-35, including auxiliary and emergency power, engine starting, environmental control and thermal management. The system has accumulated more than 1 million flight hours across the global F-35 fleet.
Honeywell says analysis of approximately 1 million flight hours identified the causes of Honeywell-attributable non-resettable in-flight shutdowns. Corrective measures incorporated into P40 are expected to reduce the occurrence of these events by about 30%.
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The upgrade is also designed to retain existing repair and sustainment infrastructure, including qualified maintenance facilities, tooling and technical expertise across the F-35 support network.
Honeywell says the architecture can ultimately support cooling capacity of 62 kW and beyond, allowing further increases to be introduced as aircraft thermal requirements grow.
