F-35 component company opens new plant

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BANKSTOWN, Australia, June 28 (UPI) -- Australian aerospace manufacturer Quickstep Technologies has opened a new facility that will be involved in the F-35 Lightning II program.

"This new facility is just one example of the investments Quickstep has made that will benefit the F-35 program," said Gary Ervin, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

"It's a testament to the strong industrial partnership Northrop Grumman has with Quickstep in producing the F-35 center fuselage and with the governments of Australia and New South Wales in establishing this critical composite manufacturing capability in Australia."

Quickstep supplies composite skins and subassemblies for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter center fuselage produced by Northrop Grumman.

It recently won a contract from Lockheed Martin to manufacture flaps for the C-130J.

"With the opening of its new facility, Quickstep offers the scale and resources necessary to undertake large-scale, long-term aerospace manufacturing contracts along with access to a qualified and skilled labor pool," Northrop Grumman said. "This will benefit the execution of Quickstep's F-35 work."