The first F-35A Lightning II aircraft began its assembly today at the Nagoya, Japan, F-35 Final Assembly and Check-Out (FACO) facility. The aircraft, designated AX-5, has officially begun the mate process, where major components of the aircraft are joined together to form the aircraft’s structure. F-35A AX-5, the first Lightning II aircraft slated to be assembled in Japan, will complete its assembly in the Electronic Mate and Assembly Station (EMAS) and roll out of the factory for delivery in 2017.
The first four Japan F-35As, aircraft AX-1 through AX-4, are in various stages of production at Lockheed Martin’s F-35 facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The first, F-35A aircraft AX-1 is expected to deliver in 2016.
The remaining 38 F-35As in Japan’s Foreign Military Sale (FMS) program of record of 42 aircraft, will be assembled and delivered in country from the Nagoya FACO. Lockheed Martin and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) are working together to complete the Nagoya facilities and install the remaining equipment and tooling required to assemble and deliver F-35A aircraft from the Japan assembly line. Lockheed is also providing technical assistance and workforce training. Additionally, the US Department of Defense selected the Nagoya FACO in 2014 for the North Asia-Pacific regional heavy airframe Maintenance Repair Overhaul & and Upgrade (MROU) facility.
The F-35 Lightning II, a next-generation fighter, combines advanced low observable stealth technology with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the F-16 Fighting Falcon and A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 Hornet for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries. Following the U.S. Marine Corps’ July combat-ready Initial Operational Capability (IOC) declaration, the U.S. Air Force and Navy intend to attain service IOC in 2016 and 2018, respectively. More than 150 production F-35s have been delivered and the fleet has more than 45,000 flight hours.
Press release and picture Lockheed Martin
