First F-35 JSF Near Completion At Lockheed Martin

Source URL: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=17355&rsbci=0&fti=111&ti=0&sc=400
Posted at: http://www.air-attack/com/news/news_article/900

With the installation of horizontal tails on the first F-35, the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) team has completed assembly of the aircraft’s major structural components. The next milestone in the aircraft’s march to first flight is engine installation, planned for early 2006.

“The speed and precision of assembly on this airplane continues to impress even the most experienced aerospace veterans among us and far exceeds any program that has gone before it,” said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35 JSF program general manager. “The ease with which this aircraft has come together, along with the quality of the fit and finish, is simply unprecedented in a first-off-the-line aircraft. It puts us down the path toward meeting our affordability goals.”

The stealthy F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role, 5thgeneration fighter designed to replace aging AV-8B Harriers, A-10s, F-16s, F/A-18 Hornets and United Kingdom Harrier GR.7s and Sea Harriers. First flight is planned for fall 2006.

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