Lockheed Martin’s first F-35 Lightning II center wing produced here is complete and en route to the F-35 final assembly line in Fort Worth, Texas.
“The delivery of this center wing is doubly important for Lockheed Martin’s Marietta site. Not only does it usher in a new era of aircraft assembly, but it also continues a strong 5th generation fighter tradition inherent to this facility,†said Shan Cooper, Lockheed Martin vice president and Marietta site general manager. “The F-35 fighter represents the future of air supremacy and the Marietta team is proud to contribute to this historic program.â€
Lockheed Martin’s Marietta facility is also home of the 5th Generation Coatings Center of Excellence, which supports all F-35 horizontal and vertical tail coating work.
This first Marietta-built center wing will be installed in the 25th F-35, an F-35B. With this center wing, Lockheed Martin begins a transition of center wing production from Fort Worth to Marietta to support rate production. In the future, Alenia Aeronautica in Italy will also build the components.
The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. It will be produced in three variants that are derived from a common design. The Marietta F-35 center wing team will produce units for all three aircraft variants.
Lockheed Martin press release
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