F-35, what will Rheinmetall do
Rheinmetall has selected a site in North Rhine-Westphalia to start producing the fuselage center sections of “at least” 400 F-35As. With the German group joining the team to co-produce fuselages for the jet, Lockheed Martin could ramp up annual production
Rheinmetall will produce in Germany the central sections of the fuselage of the F-35 JSF, a fighter developed by the US aerospace group Lockheed Martin.
The German defense giant has selected the area of North Rhine-Westphalia, at the Weeze airport, as the site for the factory where it will produce parts of the fuselage of the F-35A Lightning II. This is what was communicated by Rheinmetall itself, according to which central sections of the fuselage of at least 400 aircraft a year will be manufactured in Weeze.
Last February Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, the program's main partner, signed a letter of intent with Rheinmetall AG as a "promising strategic source for the supply of the central fuselage of the F-35".
A second integrated assembly line of the F-35 central fuselage (IAL) will therefore be started in Germany, expanding the significant role that European industry plays in the F-35 program, explained a note from the German group led by Armin Papperger. Last December, Berlin ordered 35 F-35s to replace the aging Tornado at a cost of 8.3 billion euros.
The new facility, an expert told Breaking Defense , appears to "replace" Turkey's previous role in building center fuselages for the jet.
All the details.
RHEINMETALL'S FACTORY IN GERMANY FOR F-35 FUSELAGES
The German plant will be operational from 2025, will cover an area of 60,000 square meters and will create 400 jobs.
Rheinmetall's managing director, Armin Papperger, said he was proud of this "true transfer of knowledge and skills to Germany". According to Lockheed Martin executive Mike Shoemaker, the Weeze factory is "an important milestone" in Germany's participation in the F-35 program. Shoemaker added that the production of fighter parts in North Rhine-Westphalia will help "meet growing global demand" for the aircraft and keep it "one step ahead of future threats in the 21st century".
ALTERNATIVE TO Türkiye?
The facility will service German jets and those of "other friendly nations," according to the release.
Ankara had previously announced plans to acquire 100 F-35 jets and Turkish firms were involved in manufacturing components, such as parts of the center fuselage . However, the United States removed Turkey from the JSF program in 2019 after the country purchased S-400 surface-to-air missiles from Russia.
After Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 program in 2019, center fuselage production has been a sticking point for F-35 production according to an expert heard from Breaking Defense .
"Central fuselage production is the limiting factor," Teal Group senior analyst JJ Gertler told the US newspaper. Since Turkey's exit, Northrop Grumman has been solely responsible for center fuselage production for all three F-35 variants.
But now with Rheinmetall joining the mix to co-produce fuselages for the F-35A, the program may be able to ramp up its annual production, Breaking Defense highlights.
LOCKHEED MARTIN MAY RAISE DELIVERY TARGET
Lockheed expects to reach a goal of 156 annual deliveries starting in 2025, but according to a previous report in Defense One , the addition of Rheinmetall could allow the program to reach up to 165 deliveries per year in the future if needed.
NEW ENTRIES IN THE PROGRAM
This additional capacity would be beneficial if existing customers ramp up their purchases or more international customers join the JSF program, Breaking Defense adds.
Just last week, the US State Department approved a $5.6 billion deal for 24 F-35s to the Czech Republic , with the probable acquisition, Prague will become the 10th European and 18th global operator of the fighter. American. Without forgetting that last April Romania also announced the decision to purchase F-35 fighter planes. Greece is also awaiting approval to purchase Lockheed Martin's jet.
MORE WORK FOR FACO DI CAMERI?
Ultimately, all of this could translate into further work for Faco di Cameri.
Currently, the Leonardo-managed facility is the only final assembly and checkout site for F-35s in Europe.
It is a tri-functional site (wing production, aircraft assembly – Final Assembly and Check out and MRO&U -Maintenance Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade) where maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade activities of the F-35s in the region are carried out Euro-Mediterranean. The facility is responsible for assembling the F-35A/Bs of the Italian Air Force and Italian Navy, as well as aircraft for the Dutch Air Force. Italy is a tier 2 partner of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program with a commitment to purchase 90 F-35s (reduced in 2012 from the initial 131). The FACO/MRO&U plant in Cameri is also expected to produce 835 'full wings', i.e. the wings and the central part of the aircraft's fuselage.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/f-35-che-cosa-fara-rheinmetall/ on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 09:32:12 +0000.