Britain’s blue chip aerospace and defence sector manufacturer Rolls-Royce has received a contract for $315m (£194m) from Pratt & Whitney to supply its LiftSystem (pictured) for 17 F-35B Lightning II aircraft. Rolls is the only company in the world to produce the advanced technology that enables F-35B aircraft to perform…
Slideshow: Manufacturing the F-35
Frank Dougherty, Vice President, F-35 Production Operations provided an update on F-35 manufacturability. Dougherty has extensive experience with both the F-22 and the F-16, and has significant domain competence in what it takes to build a combat aircraft.
Foreign orders have changed the order flow and lead to the focus on manufacturability. Lockheed is in the throes of manufacturing 4 a month.
Much lost in the U.S. scurrying for dollars in dealing with "overseas contingency operations" and paying for the Obama "stimulus package" and "health care reform" is the significant question of the role of manufacturing in the evolution of the U.S. economy and its global competitiveness.
