Joining the Pieces

This article focuses on variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s airframe and structure required by the services’ different missions. The Air Force needed a tough, lightweight aircraft that could operate from fields close to combat zones. This is the conventional takeoff and landing variant. The Marines needed a plane with short takeoff and vertical landing. This aircraft, which has a 50-inch-diameter lift-fan behind its cockpit powered by the F-35’s turbine engine, has also been ordered by Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Assembly of the F-35 at Fort Worth has been highly automated and centers around three assembly systems. The biggest of them assembles three variants of wings. Standing about 30 feet high, the assembly systems automatically accommodate different components. Subcontractors and other Lockheed Martin plants are handling most of the detailed parts fabrication and subassembly.