FIRST F-35 EXITS LOCKHEED MARTIN FACTORY, PREPARES FOR TESTING

Lockheed Martin ^ | 20 February 2006

[A.A. Cunningham]

FIRST F-35 EXITS LOCKHEED MARTIN FACTORY, PREPARES FOR TESTING

FORT WORTH, Texas, February 20, 2006 --

The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Joint Strike Fighter team has completed assembly of the first F-35 aircraft and moved it out of the factory in preparation for an intensive period of ground testing. First flight of the F-35, a conventional takeoff and landing version, remains on schedule for this fall.

The first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter moves from the factory to a fueling facility at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas, on Feb.19 achieving another major milestone toward first flight planned later this year. Workers completed assembly of the aircraft on Feb. 17.

 

The first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter moves from the factory (JPG, 2.91 MB - High-Resolution Photo)

 

The move on Feb. 19 capped a thorough design update from the Concept Development Phase of the program, and an innovative production process that yielded unprecedented levels of assembly accuracy, fit and finish.

“Our team's engineers, mechanics and assemblers deserve high praise for the precise way in which this airplane came together with very few issues,” said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and JSF program general manager. “The fact that this level of quality was achieved on our first aircraft, at the beginning of our learning curve, signals good things for the reliability and affordability of the thousands of F-35s that will follow.”

Mechanics transferred the airplane to a nearby fueling facility where it will initially undergo a thorough fuel-system check-out. Structural coupling and ground-vibration testing will follow. Engine runs will begin in late spring and will lead into taxi tests in advance of first flight.

“I look at what this airplane is going to do, how it is going to change the nature of tactical warfare, and I am amazed,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. C.R. Davis, deputy executive officer of the Joint Strike Fighter program. “This program is young, and plenty of hard work remains ahead, but the F-35's move to the flightline is a major milestone. It's a great day.”

The stealthy F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role, 5th-generation 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.

Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan and the F136 turbofan from the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team. Each power plant produces 40,000 pounds of thrust, making the   F-35 the most powerful single-engine fighter ever to fly.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2005 sales of $37.2 billion.

Contact:

John R. Kent
817-763-3980
e-mail john.r.kent@lmco.com

John Smith
817-763-4084
e-mail john.a1.smith@lmco.com

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[A.A. Cunningham]

[Myrddin]

This must be the first production version. There are two models on static display at the museum adjacent to the Patuxent Naval Air Station in Lexington Park, MD.

[bybybill]

Hope this plane is as good as it`s supposed to be. Has anybody checked how it will handle flying over China?

[Bender2]

Just wondering if by chance you are related to Duke Cunningham? If so, tell the him he broke my heart...

[RedCell]

Hope this plane is as good as it`s supposed to be. Has anybody checked how it will handle flying over China?

I was thinking Venezuela, myself.

[A.A. Cunningham]

No relation. Besides, Duke was a squid.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Slow-loading graphics, hope those on dial up are ok.

(This plane beat a much uglier Boeing competitor. How does that old saying go? "If it looks right, it is right.")

[bybybill]

Now thatsa really good idea

[NormsRevenge]

PBS has shown the documentary multiple times of the flyoff between the 2 teams competing for the contract to replace aging aircraft.

This baby had a much easier time of achieving all targeted goals for the flyoff. The Boeing entry never did achieve all of them.

[spetznaz]

Yep....the Boeing X-32 sure looked funny:

[okie01]

This plane beat a much uglier Boeing competitor.

You refer to the..."Monica"?

[Question_Assumptions]

The rumor I heard was that people around the Pentagon were calling the Boeing JSF entry "The Monica" because of it's gaping air intake on the front and that's when many people realized that the F-35 was going to win.

[NormsRevenge]

FR thread from 2003 re:
Battle of the X-Planes (the JSF project)
NOVA on PBS

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/836120/posts

[PhilDragoo]

194K Cutaway

[Proud_USA_Republican]

I believe its maiden flight should be to drop a jdam on the top of the president of Iran's house.

[fish hawk]

Don't call him "Duke". He stole that from John Wayne and he doesn't deserve it now.

[JRandomFreeper]

That's about 14 seconds south of me, if they stay under the 250 Kt. speed limit. And they never do.

Neighbors complain about the jets. I LOVE the sound of freedom in the morning when the F-16s or F-18s fly. I miss the BUFFs and KC-135s.

/johnny

[church16]

Heh... I fly out of NAS Ft Worth, and ummm, we never fly less than 350 KIAS up initial. I'm glad to hear some people actually like the sound of freedom.

[Knitebane]

NAS Ft. Worth? Pshaw.

It will always be Carswell AFB to me.

Some of us remember the days when the NAS was in Dallas on Mountain Creek Lake, right next to the LTV plant.

We had VF-201, VF-202, VR-59 and some Marine aviators up the hill, and we liked it that way!

[rmlew]

I don't recall John Wayne actually serving in the military, much less being a fighter ace.