Fokker Technologies, now a division of GKN Aerospace, signed an agreement with Northrop Grumman for the delivery of the in-flight openin...
Fokker Technologies, now a division of GKN Aerospace, signed an agreement with Northrop Grumman for the delivery of the in-flight opening doors for the F-35 Lightning II (JSF). The contract is valued at approximately €100 million.
Under this agreement, Fokker will be responsible for the manufacture of the in-flight opening doors for the next batch of aircraft in low rate initial production lots 10 and 11.
Earlier this month Fokker Technologies received from UTAS (United Technologies Aerospace Systems) the follow-on contract for the continuation of the design and development for the qualification of the polymer matrix composite (PMC) landing gear drag brace for the F-35 Lightning II landing gear.
UTAS is the exclusive landing gear system supplier and integrator for the F-35 aircraft.
Under the follow-on development contract, UTAS and Fokker Technologies will continue to work together to qualify and produce developmental hardware for qualification of the PMC drag brace that could be incorporated into the main landing gear for F-35 conventional take-off/landing (CTOL) and short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) variants.
Fokker Technologies role will encompass component design, development, qualification and hardware manufacture; these efforts will be conducted by a specialist Fokker Technologies team in Helmond, the Netherlands. UTAS will perform system-level design and integration in its Cleveland, Ohio and Ft. Worth, Texas landing gear facilities.
Compared to the metallic brace equivalent, using PMC materials will result in reduced weight, and lower costs over the life of the F-35. The new design will qualify the common PMC brace used on both the CTOL and STOVL variants.
Fokker Technologies has been actively engaged in the development of technologies for the application of thick-walled polymer matrix composites (PMC) in flight critical primary structural components for landing gears for over twenty years.
Several partners, among which the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR), have joined in a composite knowledge network that contributed to this technology development. In March 2015 Fokker Technologies and NLR have opened a pilot plant in Marknesse (NL) where the composite drag brace qualification hardware will be produced in a fully automated facility.
Fokker Technologies has been a part of the F-35 program since 2002 and has produced and delivered electrical wiring interconnection systems, flaperons, in-flight opening doors, engine parts, arresting gear for F-35 aircraft that are currently flying and in production.
