PALMDALE, Calif., Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Northrop
Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has completed – on budget and on
schedule – the center fuselage for the first F-35 Lightning II
aircraft to be ordered by Norway,
a conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant designated
AM-1.
Photos accompanying this release are available at
http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/mediagallery.html?pkgid=29561.
The company celebrated the production milestone with a brief
ceremony Dec. 4 at its Palmdale
Aircraft Integration Center of Excellence, the site of its F-35
Integrated Assembly Line (IAL). Royal Norwegian Air Force Col.
Odd-Steiner Haugen, the Norwegian
national deputy in the F-35 joint program office, attended the
ceremony on behalf of the Norwegian government.
"Today's event marks another key delivery on the F-35 team's
promise to produce a fifth-generation, multirole fighter that can
meet the common air combat requirements of the U.S. and its
allies," said Brian Chappel, vice
president and F-35 program manager, Northrop Grumman Aerospace
Systems. "Using our Integrated Assembly Line, we're continuing to
reduce the time and cost required to produce an F-35 center
fuselage. Our success is helping the industry team meet the
operational need dates of our international partners."
The center fuselage is the core structure around which every
F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft is built. As a principal member
of the Lockheed Martin-led F-35 industry team, Northrop Grumman
designed and produces the center fuselage for all three F-35
variants: CTOL, short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) and the
carrier variant (CV).
The AM-1 center fuselage is the first of 52 center fuselages
that Northrop Grumman will produce for Norway. It is the 166th center
fuselage that the company has produced at its Palmdale site, and the 34th such
unit delivered to Lockheed Martin this year.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics will perform final assembly and
checkout of the Norwegian F-35s in Fort
Worth, Texas. The process includes mating the center
fuselage to the forward fuselage/cockpit and wings produced by
Lockheed Martin, and the aft fuselage and empennage produced by BAE
Systems.
The IAL is a highly automated set of work cells developed to
assemble – efficiently, affordably and with high precision – the
center fuselage for all three variants of the F-35 joint strike
fighter. It occupies more than 200,000 square feet of factory floor
space and includes more than 700 tools required to operate 78
positions.
Northrop Grumman plays a key role in the development and
production of the F-35 weapons system. In addition to producing the
jet's center fuselage, the company produces key F-35 radar,
electro-optical, avionics and communications subsystems. It also
develops mission systems and mission-planning software; develops
and maintains pilot and maintainer training systems courseware; and
manages the team's use, support and maintenance of low-observable
technologies.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems,
cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and
commercial customers worldwide. Please visit
www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
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SOURCE Northrop Grumman Corporation