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According to a press release issued at the time of the roll out, the importance of the follout of the first F-35A from the Cameri facility.
History was achieved today when the first Italian F-35A Lightning II rolled out of the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility here.
This production milestone marks the first F-35A assembled internationally and the first of eight aircraft currently being assembled at Cameri.
The aircraft, designated as AL-1, will now proceed to additional check-out activities before its anticipated first flight later this year.
The rollout exhibits the ongoing strong partnership between the Italian Ministry of Defense, industry partner Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi, and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).
The Italian FACO is owned by the Italian Ministry of Defense and is operated by Alenia Aermacchi in conjunction with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics with a current workforce of more than 750 skilled personnel engaged in F-35 aircraft and wing production.
“The Cameri FACO is truly a national crown jewel, currently assembling the first eight Italian F-35As and producing wings for all F-35As fleet-wide,” said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin Vice President and F-35 Program Manager. “
Additionally, as the European F-35 airframe Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade center, it will generate thousands of long-term, high-tech jobs for the Italian people for decades. Lockheed Martin is proud of our relationship with Italy and values the highly-skilled Alenia Aermacchi workforce building this incredible jet.”
The FACO will build all Italian F-35A and F-35B aircraft, is programmed to build F-35As for the Royal Netherlands Air Force and retains the capacity to deliver to other European partners in the future. In December 2014, it was selected by the U.S. Department of Defense as the F-35 Lightning II Heavy Airframe Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade facility for the European region.
The 101-acre facility includes 22 buildings and more than one million square feet of covered work space, housing 11 assembly stations, and five maintenance, repair, overhaul, and upgrade bays. The first full F-35A wing section was recently completed and will soon be shipped to Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, F-35 production line for final assembly.
The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, advanced mission systems, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and cutting-edge sustainment.
Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 11 other countries.
The Italian F-35As and Bs replace the legacy Panavia Tornado, AMX and AV-8B aircraft. More than 130 F-35s have been built and delivered fleet-wide and they have flown more than 28,500 flight hours.
The F-35 program has been built around a very different manufacturing model for fighter jets, more modeled on what an Airbus would do than the more traditional station build approach.
The F-35 is to be built on three final assembly lines (FALs)– Fort Worth, Cameri, and next year in Japan.
The line in Fort Worth is a pulse line, meaning the planes move on the line through their full build. Currently, the planes move, about five days through the line during their 20 months on the line. Three configurations are built on the single line – F-35As, Bs, and Cs – as well as modified allied versions of those aircraft, such as the drop chute on the Norwegian F-35A.
The aircraft is built on a digital thread foundation, meaning that digital systems are crucial to the supply chain and component builds and for the final assembly of the components, as well as for the maintenance of the plane.
In an article which I wrote in 2009, I focused on the digital thread production system as a key element in how the program would unfold.
The F-35 is a hub-and-spoke system whereby the collaborative information sharing and engineering processes are co-located in the hub but closely connected to the stakeholders. A digital thread manufacturing capability enables the collaborative system.
In Digital Thread manufacturing the CATIA computer model feeds directly into a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machining center, and Coordinate Measurement Machines (CMM), or is processed in a Composite Programming System (CPS) before being sent to the Fiber Placement Machine. In both cases the finished product can be traced back to the original computer model through a “digital thread” which ensures greater precision and accuracy in manufacturing.
The F-35 is a globally sourced product. The global sourcing is based on the basic manufacturing model for the F-35. Global suppliers are stakeholders in the digital thread manufacturing process and collaborative participants in a networked engineering approach to the development and production of the aircraft.
On my recent visit to the Final Assembly Line in Fort Worth in February 2015, I had a chance to talk with Don Kinard, an expert on F-35 manufacturing, at the plant.
This was a follow up from an earlier discussion I had with Kinard during my last visit to Fort Worth which was in November 2012.
The production line and the manufacturing process has matured during this period and we discussed the maturation and its significance for the way ahead.
There is a whole lot of discussion and political maneuvering around the F-35, but underlying the program is a fundamental production reality – a 21st century production process, one final assembly line built on pulse manufacturing, and two others either using or about to use a station built approach.
This process has built into a maturation dynamic, which improves quality, effectiveness and efficiencies, as well as drives down costs.
The F-35 manufacturing dynamic is built on a digital thread which allows suppliers and maintainers to be part of an ongoing process of evolution of the aircraft and its sustainment. Credit Graphic: Second Line of Defense
Additionally, the learning process from suppliers to final assembly to maintainers is a fundamental part of the F-35 effort. The first military aircraft program to be built in numbers built on a digital foundation, the F-35 has an inherent learning process built into it through which digital communications provide feedback loops and shaping learning curves as well.
The numbers side of this important – as a supplier in Australia, the CEO of Quickstep put it:
“The F-35 is the military equivalent of the A-320 in terms of populating the fleets of global users.”
Numbers matter crucially in another way, namely in terms of supply chain investments and ramp ups.
Without long lead time numbers, suppliers will not invest in the ramp ups necessary to deliver a steady flow of aircraft, a flow which is on the uptick as well.
Lockheed is a 30% both participant and final assembler of the program; the other 70% are the suppliers and tool manufacturers who are key stakeholders. The suppliers come from the U.S., the global partners and FMS partners.
Question: What is different with regard to the production line since I last was here?
Kinard: One thing is that the promise of significant production of F-35s for foreign customers is being realized. In the period ahead through 2020, nearly 50% of the jets coming off of the FAL will be foreign bought. Right now you will see two Israeli jets, two Norwegian jets, several Italian and UK wings on the line.
It’s really quite remarkable the response we’re getting from the other countries. And we build them and they’re all a little bit different. They’re not exactly the same, but our system handles that little bit of that variation that we get from different country requirements.
That’s the whole flexibility of having a single production line that builds three different variants already.
If you put another small changes in each of the variants for the different countries it doesn’t really disrupt the line significantly. We delivered 35 in 2013, we delivered 36 in 2014; and the JPO has asked us to deliver 45 this year including one aircraft from the Italian FACO.
And then it’s simply the process of building the airplane.
We had this conversation a little bit differently a couple of years ago, but building the aircraft isn’t a mystery anymore.
We have the tools, we set up a FACO, we set up a wing line in Italy. We set up a FACO in Italy that’s producing. We’re setting up the first load for the Japanese FACO is December.
And that just speaks again to the maturity of the manufacturing system in general.
What we’re working on is polishing that system because we’re going to cut the hours per unit by another 50% before we get to rate production in the next three years.
We have already cut it by 65% since we started building production airplanes; we’ll cut it another 50% before we get to rate.
And that’s through things like working on the supply chain and on the maturity of the design, doing corrective action for some of our non-conformances which I would say a normal part of building the airplanes in general and the general learning curve in manufacturing.
Question: For the suppliers, seeing production in growing numbers coming out of the plant is a crucial indicator that they need to invest in their efforts as well.
How do you see this aspect?
Kinard: That was one of the biggest issues early on because some of our suppliers had made investment and the rates just went over to the right.
Now that they see the long lead money is starting to come through they are investing.
For example, we will receive our first Israeli wing boxes in the summer. They’re building the outer wing boxes. We will receive our first Italian wings, full-up wings also around summertime.
And so all of those programs are now starting to gel for capacities.
We have our third or fourth Turkish center fuselage already delivered. So that international plan is also going well.
Again, all of that speaks to the maturity of the manufacturing system that we can build centers in Turkey.
And we have built our first vertical tails at Marand in Australia under the guidance of BAE..
Question: The supply chain and the FAL are inextricably intertwined in delivering airplanes.
How does the long production run affect the ability to fold in technological innovations across the production process?
Kinard: With a long production run, we can focus on folding relevant technological innovations to improving efficiencies on the production line.
For example, when you were here last, we had not installed a new technology on the line called structured light.
With the structured light system we can get a 3-D image of the airplane and scan the airplane and compare the model being built with the 3-D data in Catia.
It significantly improves the comparison of the as-built to the as-designed, and helps us troubleshoot problems a lot faster.
Instead of doing gap measurements where you do a lot of individual gap measurements all over the airplane, we will eventually scan the airplane.
Unlike with the F-22 which was a production run of a relatively small number of aircraft, the F-35 because of the production runway in front of us, we have the potential to implement lots of technologies to help us reduce the costs even more.
Digital thread is a big player in making significant differences to the way we build the airplane.
F-35 Wing Assembly at Cameri. Credit: Alenia
Question: What is the impact of having two other national approaches to final assembly?
Kinard: They see things differently.
The Italians have seen the way we build the airplane and we see how they build the aircraft.
Technically we build the aircraft the same way but improvement ideas come from all of the participants.
I’m the collector of those lessons learned from all the sites and so it’s been real interesting to see the feedback we’ve received.
One of the strengths of the program from inception was the incorporation of technology and knowledge from all of the partners.
Of course, the Italians and Japanese are building a lot different quantities than we are.
The Italian FACO is going to be two a month, the Japanese FACO is going to be at most one a month.
With those kind of numbers, they’re not doing it exactly the way we are. They’re not going to have a pulse final assembly line, for example. They’re probably going to have a station build line, but those are all things that you would do.
Our line is established for quantity build and if I was building one a month I might not pulse them either as it costs money to move them.
But overall, we are now in the manufacturing phase, which I might call, taking it to the streets.
Meaning we’re taking a digital thread to the workers on the floor. And moving forward as well we’ll eventually take this right to the maintainers.
A lot of things we’re doing in a production floor will eventually be a bonus for the maintainers who work on the airplane.
For example, we can set up a portable optical projection system, and one can project work instructions directly onto the airplane that he’s working on.
The fidelity of what he sees and can focus his attention on is ramped up.
The interactivity among the suppliers, the FAL and the maintainers is much simpler because we can talk to each other from long distances away using the digital thread too.
And changes in the production process software are already cross-fertilizing with the maintainers.
For example, in the transition from LRIP-5 to LRIP-6 software, we introduced more functionality into the Prognostic Health Management (PHM) system.
We then used the PHM improvements in the production process to get what we call network status of for our combat mission systems.
From a production point of view, we get a lot of information as we’re building the airplane in terms of how well every system is working.
And the PHM is going to continue to get better as we go through the different software lots as well.
The software changes have helped the pilot, but it’s also helped us build the airplane because we were historically using very manual techniques to go troubleshoot problems.
With the software enabled process and airplane, we have significant situational awareness (SA) of the airplane, not just for the pilot flying the airplane but for the supply chain, the FAL and the maintainers.
Question: So you are saying that the software that you’re improving for understanding any problems you have on the production side translates directly into improved maintenance software?
Kinard: Absolutely.
It was the same kind of thing that the maintainers will use and be able to download, troubleshoot the airplane quicker.
That was, of course, that’s one of the mantras of joint strike fighter was being able to have a maintenance system that allowed you to not only save cost but to improve awareness both from a pilot point of view as well as from maintainer’s point of view.
Capt. Brent Golden, 16th Weapons Squadron instructor, is greeted by Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center commander, after arriving in the Weapons School’s first F-35A Lightning II 3i aircraft for IOC testing at Nellis, January 15, 2015. Credit: USAF
Question: As you mature the production process, you are looking to enhance automation in that process.
How does folding in automated processes work?
Kinard: For example, we did not utilize automated drilling on the F-22. It was a fill and fare process for finishing as well.
We now do probably 20-25% of our hole drilling on the F-35 with automated systems.
There’s even a new auto-drill going in right now which illustrates how we continue to look for ways to do automation – because it really is faster, it really is more accurate, and it takes away a lot of the manual stuff that takes experts to do.
The advantage to the new auto drill it’s got all the new gadgets on it. The new drill uses a minimum quantity lubricant for doing the auto drilling. It also has automated measuring of the holes. So I actually drill the hole and measure it at the same time.
And that way I can keep track of quality even better.
You wouldn’t think drilling holds is a big deal, but drilling holes is a big deal in an airplane to get 99% yield, perfect countersink depth.
Question: There have been many critics of building a common aircraft for all three services, for example RAND published a report a few years ago saying it would have been better to have three different airplanes.
From your point of view, what is the advantage of commonalty for a production process?
Kinard: The volume of aircraft allows us to improve the production process on a single line.
We are on the 70th F-35A, the 51st F-35B and on the 25th F-35C; this allows an ability to deliver efficiencies and cost savings that if they were not common would not easily happen.
The mission systems are 100% common; the airframes 70% common.
Because of the commonality in the mission systems, we know how to troubleshoot the systems almost independently of the type version we are building.
The guts of the airplane, mission and vehicle systems are very common.
It helps us put it together and it certainly is going to help the customer maintain it in the future.
Question: The F-35 program is unique but it is having a significant impact on the supply chain and the entire aerospace industry.
How would you describe its ripple effects?
Kinard: Remember we buy 70% of the airplane from somebody else. One of our initiatives right now and it’s been for a while is to take what we’ve learned and distribute it to the industry.
This is a stealthy aircraft, but more than being a stealthy aircraft this is a very aware aircraft.
If you look at situational awareness on this aircraft there’s nothing like this ever in terms of what the pilot is able to understand about his environment and his surroundings. The sensors on the aircraft are amazing,
But if you really think about the way this aircraft, it’s not just the stealth that gives us the advantage as much as the avionics and the situational awareness.
With regard to production we have learned a lot about how to precision tool an advanced aircraft. The companies that are doing the machining for us are the high-precision machining are German machines and Italian machines.
So we have learned a lot about how precisely to control the configuration of an aircraft.
We have learned a lot about how we apply digital thread in an environment such as getting 3-D drawings directly on the factory floor; technologies for being able to interact with a tablet directly with the 3-D data from the airplane, which is a real time interact.
The ability to measure as I build, the ability for a mechanic to have it automatically verify the configuration, verify the quality, simply because I have this ability to compare the as-designed to the as-build directly is built into the evolving process.
We are building in augmented reality innovations, and we’re looking at all the innovative ways for putting information in front of the pilot, the line worker, and the maintainer. We do it for the helmet already. The pilot gets amazing information in the helmet. Clearly, the same kind of capability works for mechanics.
Whether it’s a google glasses kind of approach or whether it’s a tablet kind of approach those technologies will continue to proliferate. A lot of companies are looking at that technology. We’re certainly looking at it a lot.
But again remember, we also need it for the supply chain. And everything, almost everything I’ve mentioned has some impact on the maintainer community whether it be how the maintainers get their instructions, how they repair the airplanes, how they diagnose the airplanes, that’s all part of the same innovation.
In other words, it is a highly interactive process of innovation among the suppliers, the final assembly lines and the maintainers in reshaping the combat capabilities of the F-35 as a global enterprise.
Note Regarding the Slideshow:
Visiting the FAL in Fort Worth highlights the process of moving planes from one end of the assembly line to the other over a year and a half.
The planes move on average every five days, and the process of building aircraft is clearly accelerating.
The result will be seen in the numbers of deployed aircraft in the period ahead, more than 600 by 2020.
In the second photo, the numbers of aircraft – more than 400 – deployed in various global locations by 2018 is portrayed.
During my visit, I saw several partner airplanes on the line including British, Norwegian and Italians, and there may have been more but that is what I saw while visiting the FAL.
And the numbers are clearly ramping up for all three models, and note BF-51 which is the 51st STOVL jet, as I was touring the line.
The remaining photos provide various views of the line and aircraft in various phases of production.
The photos towards the end of the slide show highlight planes at the end of the production line or in the paint shop.
The photos were shot by Angel DelCueto, Lockheed Martin photographer, on February 20, 2015 and were subsequently cleared by the Joint Program Office.
And see the recent story by Steve Trimble of Flight International about his recent visit to the FAL as well:
As Trimble put it in his article published on January 22, 2015:
Mass manufacturing and stealth aircraft have never mixed well. Hundreds of thousands of parts must align at tolerances measured to the thousandths of an inch. A structural misalignment no wider than a few human hairs is enough to make an aircraft shine like a lighthouse in the electromagnetic spectrum.
In the elite club of stealth aircraft manufacturers, Lockheed Martin set the output record six years ago by averaging two F-22 Raptor deliveries per month, then topped that four years later as the F-35 Lightning II production rate reached three per month.
If Lockheed’s order projections are realized, however, the F-35 must become the stealth fighter equivalent of the Ford Model T in less than four years.
That is when monthly output at Lockheed’s mile-long factory in Fort Worth, Texas, is supposed to reach a peak of 17 F-35s in 2019.
Lockheed has built non-stealthy fighters faster in the past – the same factory built 33 F-16s in October 1981 – but the four-year goal for monthly F-35 deliveries is nearly seven times higher than any stealth aircraft program has ever achieved.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon have met the Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani, in the first ever Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting between the UK and Japan.
During the meeting, the ministers discussed the global security situation, including the challenge posed by ISIL and international terrorism, and what more the UK and Japan can do together in the areas of defence and security to promote international peace and security.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said:
“The UK and Japan have long shared a very strong relationship. We work together in the G7 and G20 on issues that affect the whole world, including security, energy, cyber crime and healthcare, and we share a common belief in freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
From left to right: Defence Minister Gen Nakatani, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond & Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. Credit: UK Government Website
“This week’s appalling threat by ISIL against two Japanese hostages demonstrates just how much these beliefs are at risk, and how important it is we work together to defeat those who would destroy our way of life.
“Today’s discussions have come at an important moment and demonstrate the unity between Japan and the UK, as strategic partners and as friends. We will continue to work together on the dangers we face and the interests we share.”
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
“I’m delighted to welcome His Excellency Gen Nakatani here today. This is the first ever meeting of this kind between the UK and Japan. That is not just hugely symbolic, it also clearly reaffirms our resolve to deepen and broaden our defence relationship.
“It will be vital to build on the progress we’ve made today. We therefore welcome the plan for greater cooperation and the important role which Japan is increasingly playing on the international stage.”
Today’s meeting took place at Lancaster House in London and was first announced by the Prime Minister during Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s visit last year. The Defence and Foreign Ministers also met separately this morning for detailed discussions around their individual briefs, including the wider relationship between Japan and the UK and bilateral trade and investment.
And what might be included in bilateral trade and investment?
The UK is relying on its complex weapons enterprise to link its various airborne weapons platforms, Tornado, Typhoon and F-35 to work together.
Certainly, this is something Japan is interested in.
And being part of the F-35 global enterprise, the opportunity to share technologies will be enhanced as well.
Among other things, a feasibility study on a new air-to-air missile was launched in November 2014.
According to this story written by David Pugliese and published in the Ottawa Citizen on July 22, 2014:
Japan has approved the export of a locally-made component for a missile defense system to the U.S. and is launching joint research with Britain on air-to-air missile technology for fighter jets, Associated Press is reporting.
The approval marks the first defense technology transfer since Japan eased military export rules in April.
More from Associated Press:
The policy change reverses Japan’s 1967 self-imposed ban on arms exports under its war-renouncing constitution. It comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government wants to give Japan a more assertive defense posture.
Under the approval, made by the National Security Council, Japan’s major defense contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. can export seeker gyro, a component for Patriot Defense Capability-2 surface-to-air missile defense system, to a U.S. defense equipment maker Raytheon Co. The gyro is a sensor in the missile to identify, track and chase targets.
Mitsubishi Heavy has been licensed to produce seeker gyros for Raytheon, which stopped producing them itself. The U.S. requested the export, and Mitsubishi-made seeker gyros would be transferred to Qatar, officials said. Japan’s government said the export is primarily to a licensee in the U.S., Japan’s top ally. But the U.S. has exported PAC-2 to nearly a dozen countries including Israel.
Separately, the government also gave a green light to Japan’s joint research with Britain using Japanese seeker technology. It’s a simulation-based project linked to a Meteor missile development among European countries. Defense Ministry official Toru Hotchi said Japanese officials are hoping the research can lead to a technology that can be used for F-35 stealth fighter jets that Japan plans to purchase for its Air Self-Defense Forces.
Mitsubishi Electric, which also supplies missile parts for Japan’s Self-Defense Forces with renowned sensor technology, is a top candidate to participate in the project, aimed at strengthening security and defense cooperation between Japan and Britain, while contributing to Japanese military capability, officials said.
“It would not only strengthen national security and defense cooperation between Japan and Britain, but also could contribute to raise the capability of (Japan’s) Self-Defense Forces in the future,” according to a government statement jointly issued by foreign, defense and industry ministries.
On January 21st, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, met the Secretary of State for Defense, the Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP in London for the Japan-UK Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting.
The Ministers reaffirmed the dynamic strategic partnership between the two countries, as expressed in their Joint Statement on the occasion of Prime Minister Abe’s visit to the UK in May 2014. This sets out a strategic vision of deepening cooperation, based on the shared values of democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and open and transparent markets, in order to make a positive contribution to global prosperity, peace and stability.
Recognizing the contribution of both countries to global prosperity and security over the last 70 years, the Ministers reaffirmed their desire to work together to defend and protect the global commons, on the high seas, in cyberspace, and in outer space, and to support an international system based on the rule of law and international norms.
On January 21 (Wed.), from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (U.K. time), Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Gen Nakatani, Minister of Defence, who visited the United Kingdom, held a Japan-UK Foreign and Defence Ministers’ Meeting with Mr. Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and Mr. Michael Fallon, Secretary of State for Defence. Credit Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministers reiterated that Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea is a clear violation of international law, and emphasised the two countries’ support and respect for the democratic process in Ukraine. The Ministers underlined the need for North Korea to address the international community’s legitimate security and human rights concerns, including the abductions issue. The Ministers reaffirmed the importance of peaceful resolution of maritime disputes in the South China Sea in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including UNCLOS.
Emphasizing that states should seek to settle disputes by peaceful means, the Ministers pledged to continue to work together in the G7 and other international fora on foreign policy issues, including supporting Ukraine’s efforts for political stability and economic development and early conclusion of the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea.
The Ministers discussed current regional and global challenges to the rules-based international system, and the rise of non-traditional security threats. In particular, the Ministers expressed strong indignation at the taking hostage of the two Japanese nationals allegedly by ISIL. In this regard, the UK side expressed strong support, solidarity and readiness to cooperate with Japan. The Ministers strongly condemned the recent terrorist incidents in Paris, and reaffirmed their intention to combat terrorism.
The Ministers noted the importance of a stable security environment for social and economic prosperity, and the threat posed by climate change to global security and prosperity. They affirmed the role of the planned EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement in boosting growth in the global economy, and reiterated support for agreement in principle in 2015.
The Japanese side paid tribute to the UK’s global role and contribution to international security, and supported the UK’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. The Japanese side set out its ongoing efforts to develop security legislation under its policy of “Proactive Contribution to Peace.” The UK side set out the progress made in implementing the reforms outlined in its 2010 Strategic Defense and Security Review. Recognizing the peaceful path taken by Japan since WWII, the UK side welcomed Japan’s security reforms and its recent efforts to play a more active role in international efforts to secure peace, stability, and prosperity.
In this context, the Ministers discussed how to operationalize the comprehensive framework for collaboration in the areas of defense and security outlined by Prime Ministers in May 2014, and looked forward to further discussions.
There has been an expanded opportunity for UK and Japanese forces to work together in operation such as those in international exercises and counter piracy operations.
For example, this November 11, 2014 piece on the UK Royal Navy website provided this example.
HMS Atherstone has spent the last two weeks working in close company with the ships and staff of the Japanese 51st Mine Division in the waters of the Gulf.
The two Japanese Ships Bungo and Yaeyama and their Battle Staff led by Captain Yoshida, had deployed to the Gulf to take part in the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX) this November.
HMS Atherstone, under the control of the Japanese Staff, for the purpose of the exercise, participated along with ships from a variety of nations from around the world.
Seeing an opportunity to enhance mutual understanding, HM Ships Atherstone and Shoreham each embedded one of their own Mine Warfare Officers in the Japanese Command Ship Bungo. Lieutenant Alex Coleman, the Operations Officer from HMS Atherstone was one of the lucky ones chosen to join the Staff for the exercise.
He said:
“To be at the forefront of UK and Japanese military co-operation was a fantastic opportunity. I enjoyed my time working onboard the Bungo, where the crew showed themselves to be extremely dedicated and exceptional hosts”.
2015-03-06 The Royal Navy is building two large deck aircraft carriers.
This ship and the USS America are two ships built specifically with the F-35B in mind.
The Queen Elizabeth will have its sea trials next year, and construction is moving apace on the Prince of Wales.
According to a December 1, 2014, UK MoD story updating the carrier program:
While visiting the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, in Rosyth, Mr. Fallon (the UK Defence Secretary) met with the project team to discuss the build progress of the second carrier, HMS Prince of Wales.
HMS Queen Elizabeth, which was formally named by Her Majesty the Queen in July this year, is currently being fitted out in Rosyth dockyard before arriving in Portsmouth.
Assembly of HMS Prince of Wales is also well underway. Speaking from the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth, Mr Fallon said:
I came here to see for myself that the project is on track and on time to give Britain carrier strike capability, with HMS Queen Elizabeth operating with new F-35 planes by 2020.
These carriers will spearhead Britain’s sea power for the next 50 years, keeping the nation safe at home and protecting our interests abroad.
Recently, the first of its two engines was installed on the Prince of Wales at its dry dock.
Prince of Wales Gas Turbine Engine. Credit: Aircraft Carrier Alliance
The first of two huge gas turbines which will be the ship’s main powerplant has been lowered into place on HMS Prince of Wales.
Wrapped in white plastic this is the first powerplant to be installed on the second of the nation’s new aircraft carriers.
When running, this single engine – a Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbine – could generate enough power to meet the needs of a town the size of Burnley or Swindon.
Fitted in the bowels of HMS Prince of Wales, this 120-tonne engine will provide the 65,000-tonne leviathan – younger sister of HMS Queen Elizabeth – with around one third of the power she needs for her sailors, aircrew and operations around the globe.
The huge Goliath crane lifted the turbine into place – as it has also been doing lifting sponsons for the flight deck, as the carrier increasingly takes shape.
And in this time lapse video of the ship construction published on December 2, 2014, the double docking and skidding are combined at the Rosyth Dockyard.
2015-03-03 One of the three large warships which will operate the F-35 is the HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The ship is being completed and will begin its sea trials next year.
It is the largest warship which the United Kingdom has ever built and incorporates several innovations which we will focus on in a later story.
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According to a story in the Daily Mail published March 2, 2015:
At 72,000 tons and 932 feet long, the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is taller than Nelson’s Column and considerably wider than the M25 at its widest point.
She generates enough energy to power Swindon, she can produce 500 tons of fresh water a day – and travel 500 miles a day, too.
Above all, she will be able to deliver 36 F-35 Lightning strike fighters and 1,000 troops from the largest piece of British sovereign territory afloat.
Her sister ship, the Prince of Wales, is already in production, though it has still not been decided whether she will be operational, mothballed or sold.
Each ship, which has a life expectancy of around 50 years, will be fitted out with more than three million metres of cable and it will have enough power to light up a small town.
This week, the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, described the project as a feat of engineering to match the London Olympics.
You could say much the same about the price – more than £6 billion for the pair. And that does not include the planes.
Each 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier will provide the armed forces with a four-acre military operating base, which can be deployed worldwide, operating the F-35 Lightning II and a number of types of helicopter. At full capacity, the carrier will be able to launch an aircraft every 30 seconds.
They will be versatile enough to be used across the full spectrum of military activity, from war fighting to providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
HMS Queen Elizabeth will have 679 permanent crew and capacity for 1,600 crew members when fully operational.
The ship features a new style of ‘twin island’ command points – one at the front for steering and one at the back for aircraft direction. Thanks to the cutting-edge technology on board, commanders on the bridge will be able to see 250 miles away.
The carrier’s range is said to be 10,000 nautical miles and the ship is fitted with a long range 3D radar that is capable of tracking more than 1,000 targets at once or spotting a tennis ball travelling at 2,000 miles per hour.
The photos in the slideshow are credited to The Daily Mail:
2015-03-01 When the F-35 is discussed, subsumed in the discussion is the evolution of defense supply chains.
The F-35 is built around global supply chains, and the digital systems by which the aircraft is built is rooted in a triangular relationship among the digital systems used by suppliers, the final assembly manufacturer and the maintainers. Learning moves through this triangular system.
A key part of the global enterprise for the F-35 will be the global sustainment system.
Built in part on the model pioneered in the C-17 global sustainment appraoche – where parts are commonly owned – and partly on a 21st century digital system, the F-35 sustainment system will draw upon the innovations in DoD reforms in sustainment systems.
A key element of such reforms has been building when and where possible into the legacy process sensors, which allow an ability to track the movement of parts, and where possible building a life-cycle understanding of key parts as well.
This poster was created for MCCSSS students and permanent personnel to educate them about the ITV system and the process for using an RFID tag. The poster details basic steps for using the system to track gear. (DoD Illustration by Jess E. Stoncius/Released)
At the heart of these reforms is a simple idea articulated by Secretary Wynne when at OSD AT and L.
I hate logistics!” Wynne declared and then proceeded to outline the DoD’s $180B in annual logistics expense, 32 day customer response time, lack of visibility and agility, and $70B in inventory.
Wynne accurately and simply defined the limits that the current logistics structure would place on RMA.“I hate logistics!” Wynne repeated and chided the 300 program management audience to join him.
“I hate logistics!” the PMs joined in.
Mike’s logic was impeccable as he explained:
“Whether push or pull, our current logistics are reactive. At best, unless we embrace a new paradigm, we will be still depending on the Warfighters to tell (the logisticians) what they need, then trying to supply it as fast as they can. This amounts to an industrial age vendor struggling to satisfy an information age customer. Reactive logistics-the old logistics-will never be able to keep up with warfare as we know it.”
A technological foundation for shaping a more transparent tracking system for the Department of Defense has been generated by technology, namely the introduction of unique identification and RFID systems.
In an overview on the DoD approach, Murielle Delaporte interviewed Michael Wynne and key OSD officials involved in shaping the way ahead.
UIDs have been revolutionizing U.S. logistics in the past decade both in the commercial and governmental sectors.
Nine years have past since the concept has first been introduced by Michael Wynne within DoD and in spite of multi-front resistance and obstacles, the process has now a life of its own and has passed what the latter refers to as the “tipping point”, i.e. the point of no return, as it turns out that the benefits go well beyond simple asset visibility…
As Michael Wynne stresses:
UID has become today a major underpinning on the removal and transfer of material to both the Iraqi and Afghani forces. Much like in this country, we now see Bar Codes on the side windows of automobiles for entry into garages as well as bar codes on Personal Data Assistants for payment or ticketing. This is a gratifying extension to the introduction of the same concepts in the logistics machinery of the US Government.
Going backwards, it has been challenging to introduce new sensors into older systems.
Going forward, any new platform DoD buys ought to be optimized to provide the sensor generated data, which can enhance the reliability, effectiveness, and cost savings of a management system, which in turn can shape new sustainment approaches.
The F-35 is clearly such a system.
Because the F-35 was born at a time when DOD was keenly focused on implementing Unique Item Identification (UID) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies, the plane was built from the start with modern logistics tool sets in mind.
One benefit of RFID is the ability to track government equipment being used in theaters by contractors. Credit Image: Bigstock
In effect, this means that the aircraft speaks a universal or global logistics language.
This common language and the digital management, which is enabled by this language, allows for the F-35 fleet to be managed globally in an historically unprecedented manner.
In discussions of new systems such as the F-35, the new sustainment capabilities built-into the aircraft through systems like UID and RFID are not really part of the public debate.
In fact, the projection of legacy approaches leads to significant distortions in projecting the future of the operations of these systems, and really leads to significant failures in understanding that leveraging 21st technologies and management approaches are part of the overall effort to shape 21st century combat effectiveness.
But how do sensor technologies translate into more effective management practices in using the data or information generated by those technologies?
How can RFID and other sensors help identify the actual workflows generated by the movement of goods and the use of those parts and goods by users in the supply chain?
How can the data or information be organized to be used at the most effective point of attack?
Or how can that data or information be organized and delivered to users in need of that information and in forms which are useable to appropriate decision making levels?
In other words, the focus has been upon the sensors tracking movement, or upon the IT system providing basic parts information (e.g., in the F-35 system the ALIS system) but how do those sensors or basic IT systems become leveraged to provide for the operational intelligence to understand the ongoing improvements in the performance of the supply chain or the de facto reform of the work flow processes?
To understand how this happens, we are preparing a series based on interviews with Globe Ranger, a Fujitsu company, based in Richardson, Texas, to provide an understanding of how one company has approached supply chain transparency, work flow management, and providing tools for providing operational supply chain intelligence to both commercial and defense customers.
Only by understanding how this is done, can the public discussion about the impact of new systems such as the F-35 be understood in terms of how the reform of maintenance systems delivers greater combat capability to the forces.
The series will begin with a series of interviews with the CEO of GlobeRanger, George Brody, who will describe the approach of the company and the software engines developed by the company to shape their logistics business.
Then the application of their approach to defense will be examined and finally some case studies of how the operational intelligence generated by the systems allow for various sectors to have delivered substantial improvements in supply chain management.
“If the unit has a critical issue, and they need to go forward by flight, they are put on pallets and are tracked by radio frequency identification tags which are placed on each pallet,” said Jackson, 44, a native of Leary, Ga. “If they are going forward on a convoy, the “Blackjack Express”, then they are put in containers, which are also tracked by RFID tags, and secured with a security seal.”
The strategic impact of such improvements cannot be underestimated in terms of cost (given the high cost of sustaining forces and weapons systems), security (in terms of knowing where weapons are located at any time), and in terms of operational tempo (providing the right supplies to the right forces at the right time).
GlobeRanger Corp. is an RFID software and solutions company founded in 1999 that has pioneered the creation of an information processing infrastructure at the edge of the enterprise. This enables companies to harness data that is generated outside traditional IT environments to improve their business processes and move closer to being real-time organizations.
GlobeRanger’s early product vision encompassed a range of technology components integral to the creation of an edge infrastructure. Accordingly, its iMotion ‘edge’ platform incorporated support for mobility and for data collection technologies from handheld barcode readers to RFID to sensors and beyond. This holistic vision of edge computing pre-dated the first phase of mandate driven RFID market activity.
As a result, the company can today boast of a robust and proven product uniquely designed to support edge computing across industry verticals.
The company’s mission is to provide the most reliable, scalable, and flexible enterprise edge software infrastructure and solutions at the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO).
GlobeRanger’s production-tested iMotion Edgeware platform simplifies the development, deployment, and management of RFID, mobile, and sensor-based solutions. This Edge software platform seamlessly integrates existing and new technologies such as bar code, RFID, wireless and sensor based systems preserving past investments while enabling new edge applications.
GlobeRanger’s product offerings are based on its iMotion Edgeware platform which is an acknowledged ‘best of class’ product that has consistently offered customers the fastest path to robust solutions. GlobeRanger also offers configurable applications for RFID-enabling supply chain logistics activities from manufacturing to distribution center to retail store. A nimble Solution Services team and a unit for providing infrastructure services form part of a capabilities portfolio that enables GlobeRanger to be a true single-source solution provider. Strategic partnerships with Software and Services companies have helped the company to establish a global reach and address large-scale deployments.
GlobeRanger powers some of the largest RFID production deployment in the world including the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency and Flora Holland. The iMotion platform has been the foundation for many deployments in supply chain operations, logistics, perishables tracking, and healthcare.
A good description, but we will translate their technology and approaches into understanding the process of change and reform in terms of DoD approaches to supply chain management and the possibilities when applied to a large global program such as the F-35.
Photo credit: Petty Officer 2nd Class Cyrus Khemalaap, a native of Palisades Park, N.J., checks containers of ammunition as they are loaded on trucks to go to the ammunition supply point.
The 1st Sustainment Command (Theater) munitions section was responsible for the distribution of the ammunition that comes in from a port in Kuwait as seen in this 11/26/07 photo.
2015-02-22 The distributed aperture system or DAS is a key set of sensors on the F-35 which provides data for the fused cockpit system and the helmet display.
In an interview which we did at Pax River with a USMC test pilot in the spring of 2010, it was clear that the new system provided a significant advantage:
Lieutenant-Colonel Dehner:One of the new operational capabilities of the F-35B is its ability to sense the IR energy or the heat coming off the environment, a full 360 degrees around the aircraft.
It’s as if you are in the middle of a soccer ball : this is how I always picture it looking out through the facets.
I have these IR sensors all around me. And then the aircraft also detects more of the electromagnetic spectrum similar to a Prowler.
So, you do really have a lot more information that’s coming in or is available to be understood.
This capability shapes the classic question of how does one put information in a way that a human being can understand and act upon it?
Part of the answer is the way the information is displayed which enables the pilot to be a tactical decision-maker. Y
ou gain this God’s eye perspective of the world.
So, instead of being very mechanically-driven like we are in our current aircraft, in which I have to help move the radar around to make it do it’s thing, I can pull back and allow the systems on the aircraft to do that on it’s own.
Now, that’s only part of the answer.
The next piece is the Distributed Aperture Systems (DAS), that is sensing the IR world all around me.
You have camera eyes staring at all times around you, and how do I get that information across to a person that, obviously, can only look in one direction at any given time.
So the system’s interface, the DAS imagery, gets projected on a patch on your helmet, which is an improvement or a next a step from our current helmet.
So now, I have a window into this other world and I can look at information in the IR.
And as I turn my head I’m looking at the world surrounding me with the DAS information coming across.
SLD: So that the DAS system works closely with the helmet and it creates a new environment for the pilot to operate in.
You also were alluding to something I find interesting, which is this whole relationship between the classic tactical fighter and a specialized war battle manager, who’s on electronic warfare aircraft. In fact those specializations will be broken apart by the F-35.
Lieutenant-Colonel Dehner:Absolutely.
The classic tactical fighter was defined by the strike package where I’m going to have aircraft that will deliver weapons; I’m going to have fighters that will either clear the way or protect them while they go in.
And then I’m going to have electronic attack aircraft to provide another level of support.
In contrast the F-35, by design, will be able to do all three of those things with either the same aircraft or the same little family of aircraft.
So, you can prioritize different roles such as : the two on the front are the fighters today, the third is going to pick up electronic attack, and the fourth is going to do the strike.
But depending on how we’re configured, we can actually flex that real time.
“Hey, looks like the fight is actually more on your side. So, we can actually shift that focus of effort to the other aircraft.”
So, it just allows us an extremely flexible platform.
Now Northrop Gumman has recently supplied the 1,000 of these systems for integration on the F-35.
As the ramp rate increases on the F-35, which will see a significant number of aircraft deployed by 2018, obviously core suppliers like Northrop Grumman are also ramping up.
With Lockheed Martin owning 30% of the aircraft production, the performance of the suppliers is central to any effective ramp up.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (recently supplied the 1,000th AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS) sensor for integration on the F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
The six infrared DAS sensors on the F-35 provide full spherical situational awareness to the pilot, day and night. The DAS provides a revolutionary capability to autonomously detect and track aircraft and missiles in every direction, while projecting video directly into the pilot’s helmet mounted display and eliminating cockpit obscurities. With DAS, the pilot has an unprecedented view and awareness of the surrounding world.
In flight testing, the DAS has demonstrated the ability to expand into additional missions and platforms, including ballistic missile defense, hostile ground fire detection and unmanned aircraft operations. DAS flight demonstrations have included tracking a rocket to over 800 miles (1300km) distance.
“With 1,000 sensors delivered, we have demonstrated the maturity and affordability of our DAS technology,” said David Partridge, director, F-35 Radar and DAS programs, Northrop Grumman. “The system provides fifth generation awareness and protection unparalleled in legacy aircraft and continues to show its versatility and applicability to a wide range of additional missions and platforms.”
As a principal member of the Lockheed Martin-led F-35 industry team, Northrop Grumman performs a significant share of the work required to develop and produce the aircraft. In addition to producing DAS, Northrop Grumman designed and produces the F-35’s AN/APG-81 radar and communications subsystems avionics; produces the center fuselage; develops mission systems and mission-planning software; leads the team’s development of pilot and maintenance training system courseware; and manages the team’s use, support and maintenance of low-observable technologies.
But it is not just in the United States where the DAS is produced.
According to this article published in Gizmondo Australia by Campbell Simpson and published on February 20, 2015:
The Lane Cove West Business Park on Sydney’s north shore is a sleepy little place, but inside one of its buildings, behind these doors, something very high-tech is being created. Rockwell Collins Australia, a subsidiary of its American parent, is hard at work building an integral part of the world-class sensor suite that goes into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The part in question is the Distributed Aperture System, an electro-optical lens-and-sensor array in a set of six that are arranged around the body of the F-35 and tied into both the flight control systems and the pilot’s ridiculously advanced helmet. The DAS is, in essence, an incredibly high-tech camera, but the arrangement of six on a JSF airframe gives the pilot a 360-degree, 3D, true-to-life live feed of the terrain and flight space around them. It also tracks and catalogues nearby planes, incoming objects and potential threats.
This is what the DAS does:
A little smaller than a soft drink can, the Distributed Aperture System requires incredibly precise optics and both optical and infrared sensors and therefore minutely accurate manufacturing by a highly trained team. The facility to build the DAS had to be custom built at Rockwell’s Australian offices, with air-leveled tables in a class 10,000 clean room and a final testing system that is the only one of its type in Australia. Rockwell wouldn’t share any info on the individual price of a DAS with us, but you can bet they don’t come cheap.
Intricately tied into the DAS and every other system is a F-35 pilot’s helmet:
The helmet includes projectors that show a heads-up display on the pilot’s visor, and when switching to DAS mode the pilot can look around and through the jet’s airframe, literally moving their head to see through the fuselage and underneath the wings. Since the F-35B has the capability for vertical landing, a system like Distributed Aperture is of huge advantage to a pilot’s situational awareness.
Here’s the clean room where the DAS is built, hidden away in Rockwell Collins’ facility and locked behind several sturdy doors:
Rockwell Collins DAS facility in Australia.Credit: Gizmodo.
The Aussie lab is the sister of an identical one in the United States, and has been tasked with building 40 per cent of the total number of DASes required. With 180 JSFs being rolled off the production line per year during full-scale manufacturing, Rockwell’s contract to produce at least 6 DAS units for each — not counting replacements and spares — means the Australian operation will be producing 432 of the 1080 total. At the moment, only two staff work full-time in the clean room, but Rockwell wants to increase that to eight once a team with the right level of qualifications has been assembled.
Australia has orders in place for at least 72 of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft based at RAAF Bases Williamtown and Tindal, with provision for up to 100 in total including a third squadron at Amberley. (During the building’s opening ceremony, an Air Force spokesperson casually mentioned that “we’d like a few more”, too.)
The F-35′s DAS is just one of several aerospace and defence projects that Rockwell Collins Australia has under way. But when the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter finally makes its way to the RAAF’s operational fleet, chances are it’ll have one piece stamped Made In Australia on it.
According to this press release from Rockwell Collins Australia dated April 2, 2014, their role in DAS production was announced:
Rockwell Collins has entered into a long-term agreement with Northrop Grumman Corporation (to expand manufacturing of the optical assemblies for the Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System (DAS) on the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35 aircraft.
Rockwell Collins is qualifying its facility in Melbourne, Australia, to produce these assemblies.
This is in addition to manufacturing that is already occurring at the company’s facility in Carlsbad, Calif.
“With the support and investment of the Commonwealth of Australia, we’re proud to be on the path to be manufacturing 40 percent of this vital assembly in Australia,” said Nick Gibbs, managing director of Australia, for Rockwell Collins. “Our employees are very excited to be part of the F-35 supply chain with our new state-of-the-art precision optics manufacturing capability.”
The establishment of this capability is a significant achievement for Rockwell Collins in Australia and Australian industry. The contracted activity represents a challenging manufacturing task in support of the F-35 program and positions the company’s Melbourne facility for future electro-optical production and sustainment programs.
And in a story by Brent Balinski, published in Manufacturers’s Monthly on February 23, 2015, the training approach involved with DAS production in Australia is discussed.
The factory expansion, adding a new Class 10,000 cleanroom to the Iowa-headquartered company’s Sydney manufacturing facility at Lane Cove, was celebrated last Friday.
From our perspective I think we’re bringing in the next level of technology,” Rockwell’s managing director, Nick Gibbs, told Manufacturers’ Monthly.
“We’ve invested more than a million dollars to set up that part of the capability recently,” Gibbs said at the opening.
“Financial investment as well as investment in processes and procedures and training and so on.”
The site will make a contracted minimum 40 per cent of optical assemblies to be supplied to Northrop Grumman for its ultra-high tech Distributed Aperture System…..
Six months of training in the United States were required for the operator, who returned to Sydney in December.
Rockwell could not disclose in detail exactly what’s found in the sensor assemblies further than “a lot of lenses”, but Foster could say that tolerance levels were diabolically tight for putting together what comes out of the factory.
“If anything’s out a little bit that degrades the capability significantly, and also you’ve got to remember that that’s going on an aircraft that isn’t an airliner flying in a straight line at 30,000 feet,” he told Manufacturers’ Monthly.
“Keeping all that in alignment, mission after mission after mission in very cold and very hot environments is a hard thing to do. The expanding and contracting of the metals alone with respect to the optronics skews things.
“So we have to have some very sophisticated manufacturing procedures to compensate for that and then bond it all together.”
There are currently two employed in manufacturing the assemblies, with plans to increase this to eight as production ramps up.
There are plans to also take on more staff for sustainment of the assemblies and helmets in the future.
There were other flow on benefits for local manufacturing from the JSF program, said Gibbs, an example of the kind of high-tech industry to which Australia was well suited.
“The requirements for precision engineered parts, whether it’s in medical or aerospace or IT area is continuing to grow, and I think that’s an area where Australian manufacturing can shine, where there is a real requirement for precision, for adherence to process, and not just about labour cost.”
For an overview on the F-35 global enterprise see the following:
The East of England will receive a further boost as the hub for the UK’s future combat aircraft fleet, with hundreds of millions of pounds invested to help prepare for the arrival of the UK’s first F-35B Lightning II front-line fighter jet squadron.
More than £300 million will be invested at RAF Marham, funding extensive work on infrastructure and facilities which will begin by the end of the year. This will create up to 1000 new additional jobs directly in the construction phase and a further 700 in the supply chain.
The East of England will also become the heart of US European Joint Strike Fighter operations. Alongside the UK F-35s based at RAF Marham, RAF Lakenheath on the Norfolk-Suffolk will become home to the first two US F-35 squadrons in Europe, with the first aircraft due to arrive in 2020.
The move means that for the first time in decades the US Air Force and the RAF will operate the same type of aircraft from the UK. This highlights the strength of our shared commitment to transatlantic security and paves the way for the next generation of continued close collaboration between our respective forces.
Prime Minister David Cameron said:
The East of England has a proud military tradition and today’s announcement is fantastic news for the 4,500 people employed at RAF Marham and the region as a whole.
This is a clear example of how the decisions we have made as part of our long-term economic plan are enabling us to invest, creating the jobs, growth and investment that will benefit hard-working people here in Marham and across the UK.
The F-35 will not only operate from RAF Marham, but will also be deployed onboard the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers from 2018. This will give the RAF and Royal Navy a chance to continue opportunities for training and wider support partnerships, including flight training simulation.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
RAF Marham has long played an important role in UK Defence. A Tornado jet squadron from the base is currently flying out of RAF Akrotiri, making – alongside the US – one of the biggest contributions to the coalition airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq.
Looking towards the future, the UK’s investment in F-35 will deliver a fifth generation aircraft that will provide a step change in the UK’s combat air capability when it takes over from Tornado towards the end of the decade.
Over 18,000 MOD personnel are already employed in the East of England region, and work is ongoing to establish the personnel requirements to sustain the new RAF Marham configuration. More widely, the MoD invested around £200 million in the region in 2013/2014, working on Defence projects with companies including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Rolls Royce and Thales.
