Northrop Grumman has now delivered 900 F-35 centre fuselages

Northrop Grumman has announced the delivery of the 900th centre fuselage for the F-35 fighter jet programme.

Utilising the company’s Integrated Assembly Line (IAL), F-35 centre fuselages are delivered across three unique aircraft variants.

The IAL is a world-class production facility using the latest in automation and robotics to deliver on large aircraft production efforts at scale.

Northrop Grumman is a principal member of the Lockheed Martin-led industry team, which is manufacturing three variants. The F-35A is the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, the F-35B is the short takeoff-vertical landing (STOVL) variant, and the F-35C is the carrier variant (CV).

Northrop Grumman plays a critical role in the development, demonstration, production and sustainment of this multirole fighter, including:

The centre fuselage forms a significant portion of the aircraft’s internal weapons bay and internal fuel capacity.

The company also designed and produces for the F-35:

. AN/APG-81 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) fire control radar, which brings capability to air-to-air and air-to-surface missions, complemented by significant electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance functions

. AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS), which provides simultaneous modes of situational awareness, infrared search and track, missile warning and navigation not available on any other aircraft

. AN/ASQ-242 Communications, Navigation and Identification (CNI) avionics suite, which can be dynamically programmed to arm the F-35 pilot with multiple-mission capabilities engineered for seamless transition from one mission phase to the next