Northrop Grumman delivers center fuselage for Israeli F-35

PALMDALE, Calif., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Northrop Grumman announced the delivery of the center fuselage for Israel's first purchased F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The center fuselage supports the F-35A variant, designated AS-1, which uses conventional takeoff and landing. The delivery makes Israel the eighth country to purchase a center fuselage for the F-35. The company produced the aircraft part for all three F-35 variants as part of the Lockheed Martin-led F-35 team producing the multi-role strike fighter.

"The delivery of the AS-1 center fuselage is a significant addition to the growing list of allied countries that have invested in owning and fielding the fifth generation F-35 aircraft," Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems F-35 program manager Brian Chappel said in a statement. "It also adds momentum to the success of our highly automated Integrated Assembly Line, which is helping increase the production rate, quality and affordability of the F-35 program."

Israel has ordered 33 F-35As through the U.S government's foreign military sales program. The jets delivered to Israel are similar to F-35s procured by other countries, with slight software and hardware modifications tethered to Israel's avionics components. The Israeli government expects deliveries of the jets to begin in 2016.

In addition to center fuselages, Northrop Grumman also develops radar, electro-optical, avionics, and communications subsystems for the F-35 program.