Posted on 10/27/2007 1:50:36 PM PDT by BenLurkin
PALMDALE - Six years after the contract was first awarded, Northrop Grumman Corp. employees Friday marked another milestone along the path to fielding the nation's next fighter, the F-35 Lightning II. The center fuselage for the first Air Force near-production version of the fighter was unveiled Friday at the company's Palmdale Manufacturing Center.
The fuselage incorporates design changes made during development to decrease weight in the final fighter.
"This is starting a new phase for what will be a very unique fighter capability," said Air Force Maj. Gen. C.R. Davis, program executive officer for the F-35.
The latest - and possibly last - manned fighter for the nation's armed services is envisioned as a truly joint-service fighter, with three variations of the same basic aircraft to meet the needs of the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
It also is an international program, with nine countries actively participating in the development and more expected to purchase the aircraft when completed.
The F-35 is expected to replace many other aging aircraft, including the A-10, F-14, F-16 and AV-8B Harrier. In the United Kingdom, it will replace the Harrier aircraft for the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
The fuselages for all three versions of the F-35 are manufactured at Northrop's center at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale.
They are then shipped to the Fort Worth, Texas, facility of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, the program's prime contractor, for final assembly.
"Today marks a momentous day for Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Lightning II program," said Bobby Williams, F-35 deputy program manager for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. The fuselage is "the first of literally thousands" that will head to Fort Worth to become fighters, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
"READY TO GO - Air Force Major Gen. C.R. Davis, program executive officer for the F-35 Lightning II program, speaks at the unveiling of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s center fuselage for the first weight-optimized Air Force F-35 Lightning II aircraft." Northrop Grumman
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Great pics. Thanks!
The Real Lightning.
Nice!
I hope the weight loss was enough. Few airplanes have had so much hype to live up to and so many compromises to keep those performance promises from coming true.
Oops. This is better.
That’s a beautiful airframe, indeed. But if the two went head-to-head, I know which one I’d rather be in.
Just taxiing to the end of the runway, it looked dangerous. Like a slithering cobra.
Then, when those Rolls-Royces wound up, there was a throaty buzz all around -- you could feel it inside you -- and, even at six, you knew the thing was truly deadly.
I'd love to have one.
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
He was in tanks in the Pacific during WWII.
Aging yes. But the A-10 is timeless.
I doubt that will EVER be able to replace the A-10’s ability.
When I was in the Navy, I was a sonar tech on a destroyer. In those days, each division had a great deal of latitude in decorating said division's spaces aboard the ship.
Our captain, one Commander Louis Colbus charged us with decorating our ASROC launcher. Those of us who were young and impressionable wanted to paint on some Charles Schulz' Peanuts characters. This was likely at the height of Schulz' popularity in the early 1970s. We mocked up some art work and presented it to our division CPO, one Chief Charles I. Craig.
Chief Craig didn't say, "No," he said, "Hell, NO!!!" He added that he wanted our decorations for all the world to see displaying a "skull and cross bones, d--n it!" And, if the "men" in his charge weren't up to the task, he would scare up some women to get the job done.
Some folks have a proper understanding that military things should carry nomenclature to satify the senses and scare the bejeebers out of the bad guys.
Lightning II...now that tells a story.
But the FB-111 turned out to be an excellent penetration bomber once the kinks were worked out of it.
All new aircraft have growing pains.They just make the plane better.IMHO.
Does that means they got it just heavy enough that it will almost become airborne using current engine technology?
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