F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT] will continue to look for second sources for parts to help lower risk of any one supplier having challenges, according to a key executive.
Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President and General Manager for F-35 Lorraine Martin said Monday the second source search is a risk reduction plan in addition to an international participation plan that features a part from every F-35 international partner on every single jet. Martin said when the international partners signed up for the program, they were told their industries would get the opportunity to participate.
Those companies still had to compete to get on the F-35 and had to provide best value, Martin said, but they still had the opportunity. Martin said there is a plan for each country and all of those plans are being executed.
“That was done very intentionally,” Martin told reporters during Lockheed Martin’s annual media day in Arlington, Va. “I’m very pleased that I have an industry base that’s worldwide.”
In addition to the United States, the F-35 partner nations are: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Israel and Japan are also purchasing the F-35A while South Korea has said it intends to purchase the jet.
Martin said Lockheed Martin still builds F-16s and that the jet features an international supply chain. She said those international partners can bring specific strengths like technology, workforce and capacity. Martin said that as Lockheed Martin begins to ramp up F-35 production, the company is going to need workforce and capacity.
Martin dubbed the international participation plan an additional risk reducer to the program and specifically cited wings as a part she has more than one source for. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is supplying the wings for the F-35.
The F-35 is developed by Lockheed Martin with subcontractors Northrop Grumman [NOC] and BAE Systems.