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Finnish defence company Patria and American aerospace prime Lockheed Martin have signed a memorandum of agreement for direct work within Finland’s F-35 industrial participation program.
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The contractual framework covers F-35 forward fuselage assemblies in Finland by Patria and opens access to the global F-35 supply chain for the company.
The Finnish company will provide large-scale assembly of F-35 front fuselages in Finland for international users and supply production of structural components.
Patria F-35 chief program officer Petri Hepola said F-35’s industrial participation solution in Finland creates strong competences via security of supply and is significant for national economy.
“This agreement between Patria and Lockheed Martin on F-35 forward fuselage assembly is a significant milestone for Finland’s F-35 program and Patria.”
“The large-scale assembly of 400 forward fuselages will take Patria’s industrial capabilities to the next level.
“The initial cooperation with Lockheed Martin has worked extremely well, which has built a great basis also for the future collaboration.”
Patria will also establish production projects with Pratt & Whitney for the F135 engines powering the Finnish F-35 aircraft.
Mike Shoemaker, Lockheed Martin F-35 customer programs vice-president, said the company looks forward to continuing to grow the partnership and the Finnish industrial base to deliver economic value in Finland and drive affordability for the F-35 program.
“The F-35 will provide Finnish industry with unique capabilities that leverage fifth-generation engineering and manufacturing for 21st century security needs,” he said.
In the international F-35 market, General Electric subsidiary GE Aerospace recently announced the delivery of its 1,200th shipset system for the F-35 on 18 June.
GE Aerospace has confirmed an agreement with Lockheed Martin to service F-35 systems at repair and maintenance locations in the US and the UK.
Joe Krisciunas, GE Aerospace electrical power systems general manager and president, said more than 935 aircraft have been delivered to 38 bases internationally.
“We’re honoured to support Lockheed Martin for more than two decades, helping to continually advance the F-35’s avionics and electrical power systems for the armed forces,” he said.
F-35 onboard technology include electrical power management system, standby flight display, remote input output unit, fuselage remote interface unit, missile remote interface unit, engine distress monitoring system, and ingested debris monitoring system.
