IAI marks aerostructure milestones with F-16, F-35 deliveries

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI, Lod, Israel) has delivered the first sets of F-16 aerostructures manufactured at its recently reopened assembly line to Lockheed Martin Corp. (Bethesda, Md., U.S.), including the F-16 conformal fuel tanks. In addition, the 200th F-35 fighter aircraft wing set, produced by IAI, was also recently delivered.

IAI is scheduled to produce a total of 811 pairs of F-35A wings, with a potential value of more than $2 billion by 2034, following a contract signed in 2011. IAI is operating a state-of-the-art F-35 wing production line, inaugurated in 2014, while continuously investing in automated systems, advanced infrastructures and technologies necessary to meet the aircraft’s innovative design. The wings’ upper and lower skins are made of composite materials (see “Skinning the F-35 fighter”) and manufactured by means of automatic fiber placement (AFP), made by IAI as part of its production contracts.

To learn more about IAI’s leadership in the OPTICOMS project for low-volume composite aerostructures production and its Lod, Israel facility, see “Designing for automated composites manufacturing of low-volume aerostructures” and “Israel’s aerodefense cornerstone poised for greater global outreach,” respectively. 

IAI has been manufacturing aerostructures for Lockheed Martin since the 1980s. With the new demand for the F-16 Block 70/72 aircraft, IAI recently reopened the assembly lines for the F-16 wings, vertical fins and conformal fuel tanks. Prior to reopening the F-16 assembly lines, IAI reported that it invested in modernizing infrastructure, improving the work environment and introducing new tools to produce fully compliant F-16 aerostructures. IAI also successfully reestablished the supply chain of hardware suppliers to support the assembly lines, checked and verified tooling, carried out necessary first article inspections and conducted training programs for the F-16 team.

“Lockheed Martin’s growing sales of our most advanced platforms enable us to further expand local industrial partnerships. IAI is a valued partner for the F-35 and F-16 supply chains, manufacturing various parts and technologies for Lockheed Martin for more than 40 years,” Joshua Shani, chief executive, Lockheed Martin, shares. “Lockheed Martin greatly values our long-standing relationship with the state of Israeli and its defense industries and look forward to further expand our cooperation throughout all our key programs.”