Program Manager Stresses F-35s Technical And Global Partnership
Innovations
PARIS, June 17, 2003 Lockheed Martins [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter Program is extending technological frontiers and
establishing new levels of international participation in a fighter
aircraft program, the F-35 JSFs general manager told reporters
today at the Paris Air Show.
Our international F-35 team is well on its way to producing an
aircraft system that ensures allied interoperability, closes the
capability gap, enables technology transfer and allows air forces
around the world to modernize their inventories with a single,
highly capable and affordable design, said Tom Burbage, executive
vice president and general manager of the Lockheed Martin F-35 JSF
program. This program represents all-new thinking, both in terms
of its myriad technical breakthroughs, and its multi-company,
multi-national character. The scope of the F-35 programs
international participation is unmatched in aviation
history.
Burbage noted that the program has begun tooling up for production,
and remains on schedule for first flight in late 2005. He added
that the process of enlisting international suppliers is ongoing
and intense.
The System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the
program is less than two years old, and some of our international
partners joined up less than a year ago, but at this moment we are
actively engaged with governments and industries in every partner
country to ensure that their industrial participation justifies
their investment in F-35. We are lining up suppliers in each of
those countries, and will continue to do so throughout the 10-year
SDD period and into production.
F-35 SDD partner countries are the United Kingdom, Italy, the
Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Australia.
Revolutionary and evolutionary technology will enable the F-35 to
transform the way future military operations are conducted, Burbage
said. The F-35 advances stealth technology by greatly reducing the
maintenance required for low-observable materials upkeep, and by
bringing stealth out of the realm of specialized night missions and
into round-the-clock service. Information fusion, dramatically
increased unrefueled range, precision all-weather targeting, and
reduced reliance on support personnel and equipment are among the
capabilities combined into a single strike fighter for the first
time. The short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) version of the
F-35 offers supersonic STOVL performance, as well as unrefueled
range that is greater than that of many non-STOVL fighters.
The tremendous innovation in this program runs along two parallel
tracks: One track passes through a technological landscape, and the
other pushes into new frontiers of partnership among businesses and
allied nations, Burbage said. We are rolling through new and
exciting territory every day.
Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 in conjunction with its
principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE SYSTEMS.
Companies worldwide are participating in the F-35s development.
Two separate but interchangeable engines are under development by
Pratt & Whitney and General Electric. Among the aircraft F-35
will replace are the AV-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 and United
Kingdoms Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harrier.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., a business area of Lockheed
Martin, is a leader in the design, development, systems
integration, production and support of advanced military aircraft
and related technologies. Its customers include the military
services of the United States and allied countries throughout the
world. Products include the F-16, F/A-22, F-35 JSF, F-117, T-50,
C-5, C-130, C-130J, P-3, S-3 and U-2.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about
125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture and integration of
advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation
reported 2002 sales of $26.6 billion.
http://www.lmtas.com/news/programnews/combat_air/x35/jsf_03/jsfpr030617.html
