Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Bloomberg.com
August 26, 2008
By Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
Lockheed Martin Corp. has won approval to build the first six of the most advanced model of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter after satisfying civilian Pentagon officials that the engines are sound, the Defense Department's program manager said.
The decision -- reached in late July and not announced until today -- triggers Lockheed's production of the short-takeoff and vertical-landing version, or STOVL, Lieutenant General Charles Davis said. The work is valued at $973 million.
The approval follows work to upgrade an engine supplied by United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit. Vibration destroyed two engines during ground testing that put the engine through its most stressing environment. The short-takeoff version of the plane is scheduled to be declared combat ready in March 2012, the first of three models planned.
The approval means ``we are building now for customers versus the test program,'' Davis said. ``There was lot of debate two years ago'' about whether the model was going to fly this year, which it did June 11, Davis said.
An independent team of aviation experts examined Pratt & Whitney's plan to remedy the engine. The team told Pentagon officials that Pratt ``has taken every step known to science and they are confident that all the steps they have taken will relieve the problem,'' Davis said.
The upgraded engine will be tested in October and go through the same exercises that resulted in prior failures, Davis said.
The short-takeoff version has been the most widely watched of the three F-35 models because of its complexity and participation by the U.K., the largest international partner on the $298 billion program.
The U.K. is building two aircraft carriers to accommodate the new plane and the Marine Corps touts it as the centerpiece of its future combat aviation.
The U.S. plans to build at least 420 short-takeoff models for the Marine Corps and 138 for the U.K. The Italian and Spanish air forces are considering purchases also, he said.
Short-takeoff production increases from six this year to 10 in fiscal 2009, including the first two for the U.K., 15 in 2010 to 31 in 2012. Production settles to about 25 each year in 2013, 2014 and 2015, Davis said.
The six production models will be built on the same Fort Worth, Texas, assembly line as the five development test short- take-off models.
The Pentagon has already approved production of the F-35 model to be used by the Air Force. That variant is a conventional takeoff and landing model.
August 26, 2008
By Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
Lockheed Martin Corp. has won approval to build the first six of the most advanced model of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter after satisfying civilian Pentagon officials that the engines are sound, the Defense Department's program manager said.
The decision -- reached in late July and not announced until today -- triggers Lockheed's production of the short-takeoff and vertical-landing version, or STOVL, Lieutenant General Charles Davis said. The work is valued at $973 million.
The approval follows work to upgrade an engine supplied by United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit. Vibration destroyed two engines during ground testing that put the engine through its most stressing environment. The short-takeoff version of the plane is scheduled to be declared combat ready in March 2012, the first of three models planned.
The approval means ``we are building now for customers versus the test program,'' Davis said. ``There was lot of debate two years ago'' about whether the model was going to fly this year, which it did June 11, Davis said.
An independent team of aviation experts examined Pratt & Whitney's plan to remedy the engine. The team told Pentagon officials that Pratt ``has taken every step known to science and they are confident that all the steps they have taken will relieve the problem,'' Davis said.
The upgraded engine will be tested in October and go through the same exercises that resulted in prior failures, Davis said.
The short-takeoff version has been the most widely watched of the three F-35 models because of its complexity and participation by the U.K., the largest international partner on the $298 billion program.
The U.K. is building two aircraft carriers to accommodate the new plane and the Marine Corps touts it as the centerpiece of its future combat aviation.
The U.S. plans to build at least 420 short-takeoff models for the Marine Corps and 138 for the U.K. The Italian and Spanish air forces are considering purchases also, he said.
Short-takeoff production increases from six this year to 10 in fiscal 2009, including the first two for the U.K., 15 in 2010 to 31 in 2012. Production settles to about 25 each year in 2013, 2014 and 2015, Davis said.
The six production models will be built on the same Fort Worth, Texas, assembly line as the five development test short- take-off models.
The Pentagon has already approved production of the F-35 model to be used by the Air Force. That variant is a conventional takeoff and landing model.