- Jul 25, 2002
- 10,053
- 0
- 71
Progress
<Ft.Worth Star>
The first type of a build using new technology is paying off early . . .
I have never seen sections and components meet and match this accurately for a first time build - ever.
Parts from 'Anywere - USA' meeting parts from 'Anywhere - Euro' are meeting and matching within thousanths of an inch !
Many parts that have never been made this way before are proving the concept's workability.
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With the push of a button, hydraulic jacks gently lowered a wing onto a fuselage Monday, and the first test version of the F-35 joint strike fighter began to resemble an airplane.
Senior Lockheed Martin executives and Defense Department representatives called the well-rehearsed mating of the wing and fuselage assemblies a major milestone in development of the next-generation warplane.
"Our future begins right here, right now," said Ralph Heath, president of Fort Worth-based Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., speaking to workers gathered at the west Fort Worth aircraft assembly plant.
Production of the F-35 is expected to keep assembly lines at the Fort Worth plant operating for the next 20 or 30 years. The jet replaces the F-16 fighter that the plant's workers have built for the U.S. Air Force and foreign military services for 30 years.
Lockheed is the prime contractor on the F-35 program, teamed with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.
Although the F-35 development program is about a year behind its original schedule and, by some estimates, $11 billion over budget, officials said they are learning as they go and are confident they will meet future timetables and cost goals.
The near-perfect fit of the major components built so far is an example "of the technology we have and the people we have designing the product," Heath said.
As pieces from various manufacturers are joined, officials said, they almost invariably align perfectly or within tolerances that are finer than a strand of human hair.
In early March, the Government Accountability Office issued a report that cast doubt on the ability of Lockheed and other contractors to meet key performance requirements as well as the revised timeline and budget goals.
Official Pentagon estimates are that development and production of the F-35 will cost at least $245 billion, $11 billion more than when the contract was awarded in 2001.
A recent internal Pentagon study also reportedly said further delays and cost increases were highly likely.
But officials said Monday that modern computer-aided design and computer-controlled machining tools have enabled the contractors to produce and assemble components that are far more precisely manufactured than those in any previous military airplane and that they require less time to assemble.
"As we look at how these pieces are coming together, how they're being assembled, it gives us great confidence," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles Davis, the Pentagon's deputy program manager.
The first test airplane, scheduled to fly in August 2006, is still missing some major pieces.
Northrop Grumman, which builds the midfuselage section in Palmdale, Calif., shipped its first assembly to Lockheed in April. Workers joined that piece with the nose section, produced by Lockheed in Fort Worth, two weeks ago.
Lockheed built the internal wing structure and later added the wing skins, produced from carbon fiber composites.
The last major structural components of the first aircraft, the rear fuselage and vertical tails, will be shipped from BAE Systems factories in England to Texas in the next few weeks. Engines and electronic components will be installed later.
The first airplane is actually one of a kind. Engineers and designers went back to their computer design terminals after discovering serious weight problems midway through the design and development phase.
Although the plane's outward appearance won't change, a major re-design of many components is still under way. The design changes, once approved, will be incorporated into 21 other test aircraft and future production airplanes.
Three versions of the F-35 are slated to be produced, with about 75 percent of their parts in common.
<Ft.Worth Star>
The first type of a build using new technology is paying off early . . .
I have never seen sections and components meet and match this accurately for a first time build - ever.
Parts from 'Anywere - USA' meeting parts from 'Anywhere - Euro' are meeting and matching within thousanths of an inch !
Many parts that have never been made this way before are proving the concept's workability.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the push of a button, hydraulic jacks gently lowered a wing onto a fuselage Monday, and the first test version of the F-35 joint strike fighter began to resemble an airplane.
Senior Lockheed Martin executives and Defense Department representatives called the well-rehearsed mating of the wing and fuselage assemblies a major milestone in development of the next-generation warplane.
"Our future begins right here, right now," said Ralph Heath, president of Fort Worth-based Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., speaking to workers gathered at the west Fort Worth aircraft assembly plant.
Production of the F-35 is expected to keep assembly lines at the Fort Worth plant operating for the next 20 or 30 years. The jet replaces the F-16 fighter that the plant's workers have built for the U.S. Air Force and foreign military services for 30 years.
Lockheed is the prime contractor on the F-35 program, teamed with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.
Although the F-35 development program is about a year behind its original schedule and, by some estimates, $11 billion over budget, officials said they are learning as they go and are confident they will meet future timetables and cost goals.
The near-perfect fit of the major components built so far is an example "of the technology we have and the people we have designing the product," Heath said.
As pieces from various manufacturers are joined, officials said, they almost invariably align perfectly or within tolerances that are finer than a strand of human hair.
In early March, the Government Accountability Office issued a report that cast doubt on the ability of Lockheed and other contractors to meet key performance requirements as well as the revised timeline and budget goals.
Official Pentagon estimates are that development and production of the F-35 will cost at least $245 billion, $11 billion more than when the contract was awarded in 2001.
A recent internal Pentagon study also reportedly said further delays and cost increases were highly likely.
But officials said Monday that modern computer-aided design and computer-controlled machining tools have enabled the contractors to produce and assemble components that are far more precisely manufactured than those in any previous military airplane and that they require less time to assemble.
"As we look at how these pieces are coming together, how they're being assembled, it gives us great confidence," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles Davis, the Pentagon's deputy program manager.
The first test airplane, scheduled to fly in August 2006, is still missing some major pieces.
Northrop Grumman, which builds the midfuselage section in Palmdale, Calif., shipped its first assembly to Lockheed in April. Workers joined that piece with the nose section, produced by Lockheed in Fort Worth, two weeks ago.
Lockheed built the internal wing structure and later added the wing skins, produced from carbon fiber composites.
The last major structural components of the first aircraft, the rear fuselage and vertical tails, will be shipped from BAE Systems factories in England to Texas in the next few weeks. Engines and electronic components will be installed later.
The first airplane is actually one of a kind. Engineers and designers went back to their computer design terminals after discovering serious weight problems midway through the design and development phase.
Although the plane's outward appearance won't change, a major re-design of many components is still under way. The design changes, once approved, will be incorporated into 21 other test aircraft and future production airplanes.
Three versions of the F-35 are slated to be produced, with about 75 percent of their parts in common.
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