Lockheed Martin has reached a major production milestone with the delivery of the 1,000th F-35 Centre Wing Assembly (CWA) from its Marietta facility in Georgia, USA, underscoring continued progress on the global fifth-generation fighter programme, according to a press release.
The Centre Wing Assembly forms roughly a quarter of the F-35’s fuselage and is the largest single component of the aircraft.
The wings are attached to the CWA during final assembly, which takes place at Lockheed Martin’s main F-35 facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The Marietta site, with around 1,200 employees dedicated to the programme, plays a key role in supplying this component.
“We are proud of our Marietta team for their unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality F-35 Centre Wing components,” said Chauncey McIntosh, vice president and general manager of the F-35 programme.
“The work this team does is critical in delivering the F-35 and supporting the warfighter in their important missions.”
Lockheed Martin’s Marietta facility has a long history in military aircraft production, including previous work on the F-22 Raptor. The F-35 programme continues that legacy, with support from 29 supplier partners across Georgia, contributing to a reported $671 million economic impact in the state.
The F-35 is operated by 12 nations and has surpassed more than one million flight hours across 600,000 sorties globally. Designed to deliver advanced connectivity, survivability, and lethality, the jet is central to many allied air forces’ current and future capabilities.
Can anyone actually confirm Block 4 delivery to UK and integration/ FOC For METEOR & SPEAR3? Other than 2035 ish?
Lord Badlesmere,
My understanding is that Block 4 has been split into many different pieces. So that it can actually be delivered – rather than everything waiting to happen in one big (unmanageable) lump – sometime before the heat death of the universe. Probably…
I’ve started to see reports from the US that new weapons are finally being integrated this year. I suspect getting the weapons integrated is the easy win, as opposed to all the other new capabilities that Block 4 adds – and getting the ability to use their existing weapons is a high priority for users.
What this means for SPEAR and Meteor is another question.
However Meteor was announced to have flown on its first test flight back in April. Spear 3 only its first test fire as a missile back in October – so that’s not even ready for integration yet.
Things defintely seem to be moving this year. I guess the customers refusing to take delivery of aircraft 2 years ago gave Lockheed Martin the kick up the arse they needed to get a bit of a move on.
A bit of context to this would have been helpful. I’m pretty sure that the 1,000th F35 was delivered within the last year or so (there are several news articles to this effect), so not sure how those figures tie up?
Do these wing assembly figures exclude the F35C, which has a larger wing design?
Do you think f35b is a good aircraft
Its probably the most amazing aircraft ever built considering what it can do.
Stealthy strike concept aircraft with a2a capabilities that is now in UK hands is a stealthy BVR air superiority platform with some air to ground capabilities
Would have been great to have got it in numbers and with capabilities originally planned…..but hey
It has all the capabilities it was planned and designed for. It’s just down to weapons integration. Blk4 is really just the beginning of the F35 development cycle. Enabling future capability to be added into the 2030s 40s and well beyond.
Waapon statement of need….iin 2002 …included medium term integration of stormshadow. Understand pylons 3 & 9 were specified to take the 3000lb weight involved. That capability did not materialise. That capability was one of the pillars for F35 (largely) fulfilling the deepstrike capabilities of Tornado.
Block 4 has over 150 weapons planned for integration, and a total redesign of the avionics/weapons architecture. It’s not a small upgrade. It will allow for future radar upgrades with minimal changes as well.
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