The Joint Strike Fighter Program Office (JPO) has announced the first units of the F-35 Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN) logistics information system has successfully entered service.

The initial rollout was conducted between July 2021 and January 2022 and included 10 F-35 operating bases in the US, one in Italy, and one in the UK. That initial phase has seen all the first generation unclassified ALIS units replaced by ODIN hardware.

Designed to replace the troubled Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) in service, ODIN runs on new ODIN Base Kits (OBK) which are much smaller and cheaper than the previous ALIS hardware units. The OBKs use primarily commercial off the shelf (COTS) hardware, decrease processing times by as much as 50 per cent over the ALIS systems they are replacing, and provide better system security.

ALIS collates all of an F-35’s operations, maintenance, prognostics, supply chain, customer support services, training, and technical data, and stores it on a central database with all other F-35s of all the JSF partners. But it has been maligned by some operators – mainly in the US – due to high false alarm rates, higher-than-expected parts exchange rates, anecdotal reports of jets being grounded unnecessarily, of the system having unreliable interfaces, and that its data entry tasks are difficult.

“Recent global OBK installations mark a major milestone in modernising the F-35 logistics information systems in support of global operations,” F-35 Program Executive Officer (PEO), LtGen Eric Fick said in a release. “This was a team effort between the Department of Defense, defence industry, and our F-35 Partners, and is a giant step forward in support of international logistics and operational management of the global and expanding F-35 fleet.”

In February 2020 release, the JPO described ODIN as, “a significant step forward to improve the F-35 fleet’s sustainment and readiness performance,” by reducing operator and administrator workload, increasing F-35 mission readiness rates, and “allowing software designers to rapidly develop and deploy updates in response” to operational requirements.

The RAAF has previously told ADBR that it hasn’t seen the issues attributed to ALIS that other users had experienced. When working up its initial F-35 engineering cadre at Luke AFB, the RAAF initially used Lockheed Martin maintenance personnel and systems to support its operations. But since late 2018, has had its ALIS network and maintenance training and operations centralised at Williamtown.