Jane Edwards
Lockheed Martin plans to lease a new 35,000-square-foot facility in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, as the company works to increase production of components for the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft, The Tribune-Democrat reported Thursday.
Gilda Jackson, general manager of Lockheed’s AeroParts subsidiary, said the company plans to add more than 40 jobs by the end of 2018 as the company ramps up production of parts for the fighter jet with the expected increase in F-35 orders, David Hurst wrote.
Jackson noted that AeroParts will build the new facility, add new equipment and conduct training activities this year.
“This was competitively sought procurement, and it speaks to the quality of the workforce here in Johnstown and how cost-effective they are,†said Ed Sheehan, president and CEO of Concurrent Technologies Corp. and chair of Showcase for Commerce.
Lockheed said Thursday the company also plans to lease an additional site in Johnstown to start manufacturing work on a subset of F-35 components by the fourth quarter of 2017.
Work will cover parts painting and preparation activities to facilitate final assembly of the fighter jets at Lockheed’s Fort Worth, Texas-based production facility.
The announcement comes days after Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson, an inductee into Executive Mosaic‘s Wash100 for 2017, said that the company aims to reduce the price of the F-35A fighter jet to $85 million per plane by 2019.
