Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

LM to begin producing six F-35B aircraft

Lockheed Martin says it will begin production of the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing aircraft after meeting U.S. Defense Department requirements.
|
|
 
  
Published: Aug. 1, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Advertisement

FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin says it will begin production of the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing aircraft after meeting U.S. Defense Department requirements.

LM was awarded $1 billion in funding from the Defense Department to begin production of six F-35B STOVL aircraft. The Defense Department funds are part of a $2.2 billion contract for 12 aircraft awarded to Lockheed Martin in May.

The announced release of funds is a result of recent successful test flights of the F-35B and a propulsion system review in June and July. The F-35 STOVL aircraft production is an effort to fulfill U.S. Marine Corps aviation requirements. Officials say 340 F-35Bs are expected to be produced.

"Getting these STOVL aircraft into production quickly is critical to supporting the U.S. Marine Corps aviation recapitalization objectives," Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president, said in a statement.

"We will continue to ramp up until we reach a peak rate of one F-35B per working day in the middle of the next decade."

Topics: Dan Crowley
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The 84th Academy Awards winners The breakout star of the Oscars The Daytona 500
Radiohead performs in Miami Ice and Snow Festival in China 2012 Governors Dinner
Additional Security Industry Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Vatican police investigating leaking of confidential documents come to the obvious conclusion. The...
Professor complains that crosses on state university entrance tower violate the separation of church...
TORONTO FARK PARTY - June 2nd. 1pm Blue Jays v. Red Sox, 8pm variety show at The Comedy Bar - stand-up,...
Jackson, MS, schools will soon stop shackling students... well, most of them, anyway
Jurassic Park was built by prisoners in Cuba, with obligatory pics of prehistoric Cubans fighting...
At last, something to look forward to: If you are elderly and poor, prison is a better alternative...