2013-03-09 According to a Lockheed Martin press release, a new F-35B has flown but this time with a new Center Wing Assembly produced in Georgia.
The first Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Lightning II with a Center Wing Assembly (CWA) built at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Ga., was flown for the first time this week.
The aircraft, known as BF-25, is an F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing variant that will be delivered to the U. S. Marine Corps at Yuma, Arizona.
The CWA is a major structural component and represents approximately one quarter of the aircraft’s fuselage. Approximately 350 people work on the F-35 program in Marietta.
In addition to building the CWAs, technicians also apply specialized stealth coatings to F-35 horizontal and vertical tail control assemblies and also coat spare and repaired aircraft doors, panels and covers.
This plane will be part of the Yuma innovation driven by the USMC to drive the entire F-35 program and the forces which use it into the 21st century.
For our report on the ACE of the Future see the following:
https://www.sldinfo.com/the-ace-of-the-future-yuma-and-beyond-2/