The operation of Lockheed Martin in Pinellas Park has officially announced the opening of a new 57,000 square foot manufacturing plant for producing aircraft canopy parts for the F-35 Lighting II fighter.
This new plant is an addition to the company’s previous 197,000 square foot building, which has been manufacturing the structural parts for aircrafts of over 10 different types, since 1997. The new facility can possibly manufacture up to 20 F-35 canopy units per month.
The aircraft’s windshield, which is a clear plastic bubble, and ejection pyrotechnics, the frame and other supporting structures are included in the aircraft canopy parts.
The company is expecting this F-35 program to be one of the main military airplane programs, which include the manufacturing of thousands of aircrafts for global air forces. The fifth generation F-35 Lightning II fighter combines improved stealth along with agility and fighter speed, entirely fused sensor data, advanced sustainment and network-enabled functions. The F-35 program is developed by Lockheed Martin along with its main partners BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman.
Extrusion fabrication, sheet metal and structural subassembly are included in the core competencies at the Pinellas plant. Besides F-35, this unit has so far manufactured aircraft parts for the C-5, C-130J, F-16, F-22, and P-3. In addition to supporting the aircraft programs of the company, this plant has done work for many other companies.
Source: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/