Oct 18 2007
Alcoa, a producer and manager of primary aluminium, fabricated aluminium and alumina facilities, reported on 12 October that its Alcoa Power and Propulsion business has entered into a 10-year 360 Million US Dollar partnership with Lockheed Martin to supply advanced patented 7085 alloy aluminium die forgings for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme.
The company's Alcoa Forged and Cast Products Cleveland operations will perform the contract work which involves the design and manufacture of all the large aluminium structural die forgings for more than 1,200 aircraft. The forgings include 15 large bulkheads and six wing box parts which serve as an important component of the skeletal structure to the wing.
In addition to the aluminium forgings, other Alcoa aerospace units will provide critical F-35 components and solutions to the programme. These include joining devices from Alcoa Fastening Systems, speciality alloy plate from Alcoa North American Mill Products, and high-pressure turbine blades for F-35 JSF engines and structural aluminium castings from Alcoa Power and Propulsion.
Alcoa plans, as part of the JSF contract, to invest USD24m in Cleveland Works primarily for new machinery, equipment and infrastructure improvements. In addition, Alcoa Forged and Cast Products is being supported by the State of Ohio with a USD400,000 Rapid Outreach Grant and up to USD450,000 for employee training. The F-35 Lightning II is a supersonic, multi-role, fifth generation stealth fighter intended to replace a wide range of existing aircraft, including AV-8B Harriers, A-10s, F-16s, F/A-18 Hornets and United Kingdom Harrier GR.7s and Sea Harriers.