Northrop Grumman Begins Full-Rate Production of F-35 Lightning II Center Fuselage

PALMDALE, Calif. – June 29, 2018 – Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE: NOC) center fuselage of the F-35 Lightning II recently entered full-rate production. This milestone marks the beginning of a 1.5-day production interval (PI) meaning a center fuselage will be produced every day and a half.

Northrop Grumman quality team performs final inspection of an F-35 center fuselage produced by the company at its Palmdale Aircraft Integration Center of Excellence.

“Our customers and warfighters deserve the best,” said Frank Carus, vice president and F-35 program manager, Northrop Grumman. “Every efficiency, every minute, and every dollar we save reduces costs and speeds up the F-35’s availability to the warfighter. Achieving this pace is a testament to our employees, suppliers and teammates’ commitment to quality and affordability.”

Carus also noted that the 400th F-35 center fuselage was completed and delivered to Lockheed Martin last month and production of the 500th F-35 center fuselage began last week.

“This pace of military aircraft production has not been seen in decades,” said Kevin Mickey, sector vice president and general manager, military aircraft systems, Northrop Grumman. “Our revolutionary approach on the integrated assembly line pairs advanced technology with data-driven analytics to manufacture advanced aircraft while delivering top quality products on time, and often ahead of schedule.”

A core structure of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft, the center fuselage is produced on Northrop Grumman's integrated assembly line (IAL) at its Palmdale Aircraft Integration Center of Excellence. The IAL is a state-of-the-art facility supported by technologies exclusive to or pioneered by Northrop Grumman bringing together robotics, autonomous systems, virtual 3D and predictive automation to the forefront of center fuselage production.

“As we prepare for full rate production of the F-35, many of our teammates and suppliers are now transitioning to full rate, aligning their production lead times with the F-35 final assembly that supports increased warfighter demand,” said Eric Branyan, vice president of F-35 supply chain at Lockheed Martin. “Northrop Grumman plays a critical role in the F-35 enterprise and we look forward to continuing to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and deliver transformational F-35 capabilities for the men and women in uniform.”

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 and wing skins for the aircraft, the company develops, produces and maintains several sensor systems, avionics, mission systems and mission-planning software,  pilot and maintainer training systems courseware, electronic warfare simulation test capability, and  low-observable technologies.

Pratt & Whitney Announces Growth Option 2.0 for F135 Engine

BROOKLYN, N.Y., June 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), today announced a Growth Option 2.0 upgrade for the F135 engine, which powers the fifth generation F-35 Lighting II aircraft, that can provide increased power and thermal management system (PTMS) capacity. The Growth Option 2.0 upgrade can be configured based on customer requirements to offer a range of PTMS improvements, an area which is emerging as a critical enabling capability for future block upgrades to the F-35 aircraft. The near-term iteration of this upgrade can provide a significant improvement in PTMS capacity.

"As the F-35 program moves forward with the Continuous Capability Development and Delivery (C2D2) strategy, we strive to stay in front of propulsion advances needed to enable F-35 modernization," said Matthew Bromberg, president, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines. "We're continuously assessing customer needs and responding with technology insertion options to keep them ahead of evolving threats."

Growth Option 2.0 incorporates the same suite of compressor and turbine technologies offered in the previously announced Growth Option 1.0, and also brings scaled advances in PTMS capacity while maintaining the same fuel burn (5-6 percent) and thrust improvements (6-10 percent) across the F-35 flight envelope. By selecting from Pratt & Whitney's full suite of technologies, F-35 customers can chose the magnitude of PTMS improvements as the mission requires.

Increases in PTMS capacity can enable the F-35 to utilize an enhanced spectrum of offensive and defensive weapon system technologies. Growth Option 2.0 can provide a  significant improvement in PTMS capacity in the near-term by utilizing several low-risk technologies ready for Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) today. Pratt & Whitney is also maturing additional technologies that are projected to provide even greater PTMS capability.

Growth Option 2.0 represents the next iteration of Pratt & Whitney's Future Adaptive Spiral Technology approach, which enables the timely insertion of next-generation propulsion technologies into current and future platforms. The foundation of this approach is a suite of adaptive engine technologies Pratt & Whitney is developing to meet the demands of range, persistence, survivability, maintainability and advanced weapon systems for the missions of tomorrow. These advanced technologies can be spiraled in as they become available and provide a full range of options for customers, enabling them to maintain the operational edge now and into the future.

"Our spiral approach allows Pratt & Whitney to offer rapid, iterative upgrades such as Growth Option 1.0 and Growth Option 2.0 that put next generation propulsion technologies into the hands of the warfighter as fast as possible," added Bromberg. "These upgrades are aligned with the F-35 C2D2 strategy and provide a range of options to meet future weapons system requirements for the F135 engine."