Lift off at Samlesbury

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BAE Systems has started assembling the aft fuselage of the first short take-off and vertical landing F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

has started assembling the aft fuselage of the first short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Assembly started on time with the loading of the first three parts of the left hand aft fuselage into an assembly jig at the company’s state-of-the-art F-35 JSF facility at Samlesbury, England.

“The start of assembly of the first STOVL aircraft is a major step forward for the F-35 JSF programme,” explained Tom Fillingham, BAE Systems’ JSF vice president and deputy programme manager. “By the end of 2006, BAE Systems will deliver the first STOVL aft fuselage to our programme partner Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas. We will also start the assembly of four more STOVL aircraft in Samlesbury.”

BAE Systems will deliver the horizontal and vertical tails of the first STOVL aircraft to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas. BAE Systems successfully delivered the aft fuselage, horizontal and vertical tails of the first F-35 JSF aircraft, a conventional take-off and landing variant (CTOL), in 2005.

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