Mary-Louise Hoffman
Lockheed Martin has kicked off a process to align the four structural components of an F-35 variant for the Israeli air force at the company’s electronic mate and assembly station in Fort Worth, Texas.
The company said Sunday it is scheduled to complete assembly on Israel’s first F-35A conventional takeoff and landing aircraft in June and deliver the fighter plane to the Israeli military later this year.
Israel nicknamed the aircraft “Adir” and ordered up to 33 units through a foreign military sales agreement with the U.S. government.
Lockheed subcontracted Israel Aerospace Industries to produce wings and Elbit Systems to manufacture center fuselage components and helmet-mounted display systems for the F-35A development program.
F-35As are designed to have advanced missile, stealth and sensor fusion technologies that aim to help military users defeat adversarial threats.
