Aviation Week Market Supplement September 10, 2007

F-35: THE WORLD’S FIRST TRULY GLOBAL WEAPON SYSTEM ALLIANCE “The most significant challenge, however, has been to manage and mitigate the increase in raw material cost and the imbalance between the [U.S.] dollar and euro exchange rates,” Leyte said. Officials from Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica, which is producing F-35 wings on a second production line (the first is in Fort Worth), identified one challenge they faced. “We’ve dealt with major worldwide and U.S. companies for decades,” says FORMING THE TEAM Aligi Isella, vice president of Alenia’s JSF The initial goal for the selection of program office. “However, it is difficult for Lightning II suppliers was to ensure that a non-U.S. company to contribute in the the process is based on best value, not just most efficient way to the F-35 due to the cost or work-share agreements. While complexity of the management and operatLockheed Martin ing rules. The technology transfer hammered home issue is a clear that this was no example.” He typical work-share believes one remeeffort, the bar was dy could have been set high—major for Alenia to have subsystem suppliers been designated a had to source, at first-level partner minimum, 20% of on the F-35 team, their effort to noninstead of a secondU.S. companies. level one. There are Tony Quick, more than 600 supdirector and generpliers on the F-35 al manager for program, but this GKN Aerospace number will grow Engineering as sustainment Services in Victoria, partners are selectAustralia, leads the ed. The partner company’s F-35 countries—Ausengineering design tralia, Canada, team. GKN, which Denmark, Italy, the has designed and Netherlands, Noranalyzed complex way, Turkey and and the U.K.—have Lockheed Martin officials say the assembly quality of the first two F-35s composite metallic compomajor pieces of the has surpassed that of fighters whose production processes are mature. nents and installaprogram. Burbage says F-35 team leaders ini- came to town to showcase companies tion of subsystems on all three F-35 varitially devised an industrial exploration whose expertise might benefit the F-35, ants, is the largest engineering contributor mission. The Lightning II team and repre- including ones with experience in preci- to the aircraft after BAE Systems, sentatives from each of the partner nations sion machining. “We’re now using our Northrop Grumman and Lockheed delved into core competencies and capabil- supply chain in Australia not just for F-35, Martin. Quick says most of the work was done in Australia, with two small teams ities to ensure the aircraft development but for other programs too,” Pearson says. Similarly, the investigation identified assigned to Northrop Grumman in the team could tap into the best value. “We found that each of our different partner little-known capabilities the team needed. U.S. to support design and integration. Quick says his company’s initial nations had a different personality” when Canada’s NGRAIN was among these. The it came to technological capabilities, said company could translate the huge data involvement on the project was small, but Burbage. load involved with the F-35 to the limited it grew to better than 200 full-time engiThe team mapped these varied capa- stream of data needed by subtier suppliers neers. “We have been able to use the timebilities into program requirements. A trav- to develop manuals and training. zone factor to extend the workday and S4 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MARKET SUPPLEMENT/SEPTEMBER 10, 2007 www.aviationweek.com/awst eling road show of U.S. government experts in import/export and ITAR compliance teamed with F-35 global supply chain leaders to visit each country, helping companies learn how best to coordinate their participation. The road shows went both ways. Parker Aerospace’s Scott Pearson says he knew early on the U.S. faced a shortage in precision machining. At about the same time, the Australian Ministry of Defense http://www.aviationweek.com/awst

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