Reactivated Israel Aerospace Industries production line resumes F-16 wing deliveries

 

Announced by Airframer, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI, Lod, Israel) has delivered the first F-16 military aircraft wing and composite vertical fin —comprising hand-laid, unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber prepreg and autoclave cure — Lockheed Martin Corp. (Bethesda, Md., U.S.), following the reopening of the F-16 wing assembly line in Sept. 2021. As a result of increased worldwide demand for the F-16 Block 70/72, IAI reopened the assembly lines that had been established in the 1980s to continue production of the F-16 aerostructures assembled at the company’s facility. The wings and vertical fins will be shipped to the F-16 production and final assembly line in Greenville, South Carolina.

Prior to reopening the lines, IAI 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.

The F-16 wing and vertical fin assembly lines were the first of IAI and Lockheed Martin's collaborations. In addition to wings and vertical fins, IAI also produces the F-16 conformal fuel tanks.

“Built on the newly refurbished and technologically advanced assembly line, the F-16 wing and vertical fins represent over 40 years of cooperation between IAI and Lockheed Martin,” notes Boaz Levy, IAI president and chief executive officer (CEO). “The reactivated F-16 assembly lines join IAI’s aerostructures center of excellence for fighter aircraft.”