Lockheed Martin readies Japan's first F-35A for September roll-out, advances international programme

[Zain Malik]

Japan's first F-35A will roll out of Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth plant in September 2016, which will subsequently be assigned to Luke Air Force Base for training the first batch of Japanese F-35 pilots. A US Air Force F-35A is pictured on the flight line at the same facility. Source: IHS/Kelvin Wong


Key Points

• Japan's first F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is expected to be fully assembled at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth production facility in time for a 29 September roll-out
• Other new international customers, such as Israel and South Korea, are also expected to receive their first aircraft within the next two years

Japan's first conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, designated aircraft AX-1, is on track for roll-out on 29 September, IHS Jane's has learnt during a tour of Lockheed Martin's F-35 production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, where the first four aircraft destined for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) are being assembled.

AX-1 will then undergo a series of tests before being delivered on a yet to be determined date to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona - which has been selected as the primary training centre for US and international operators of the F-35A variant - to support training of the first cadre of JASDF pilots for the type.

In late 2011 the country committed to a buy of 42 F-35As via the US Department of Defense's (DoD's) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme at a cost of about USD20 billion. The package also includes the establishment of local assembly, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capabilities, such as the final assembly and check-out (FACO) facility based at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' (MHI's) Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works Komaki Minami Plant in Aichi Prefecture.

The deal calls for AX-1 through AX-4 to be assembled at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth production facility while the remaining 38 will be assembled and delivered by the MHI FACO plant. Lockheed Martin announced in December 2015 that the first F-35A to be built in Japan, AX-5, has entered the 'mate' process in the facility's Electronic Mate and Assembly Station (EMAS), where the major components of the aircraft are joined together to form its main structure.