GKN Aerospace contracted to extend F-35 bulkheads production.

GKN Aerospace and Lockheed Martin are expanding a longtime customer partnership by signing a contract to increase production of bulkheads for the F-35 Lightning II program through 2023. The bulkheads are a critical structure for the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) and carrier variants (CV). They require among the longest lead time of any F-35 part and are made from some of the largest titanium forgings of any aircraft.

Hill Air Force Base F-35A Lightning IIs fly in formation over the Utah Test and Training Range, March 30, 2017
(Credit: U.S. Air Force/R. Nial Bradshaw)

The four-year contract is another milestone in a long-term business relationship between GKN Aerospace and Lockheed Martin. Today, GN Aerospace provides the F-35 with critical engine components, electrical wiring interconnection systems, the cockpit canopy and advanced composite aerostructures. It also holds contracts to deliver the in-flight opening doors and the landing gear drag brace and maintains and services the landing gear for the F-35 fleet in Europe and the Pacific.

Mike McCann, CEO of GKN Aerostructures and Systems, North America, comments: “GKN has a strong relationship with Lockheed Martin and a history of partnering with them to support the F-35 program and the warfighter effort. Our dedicated employees worked very hard to demonstrate that GKN has a proven ability to deliver high-quality parts on time. In addition, collaborative engineering efforts between GKN Aerospace and Lockheed Martin enabled us to maximize efficiencies to help reduce unit prices within the contract and support cost reductions.”

The contract will be fulfilled at the GKN Aerospace Monitor Inc. facility in Amityville, New York and the GKN Aerospace Precision Machining, Inc. facility in Wellington, Kansas. GKN Aerospace – Monitor and Precision Machining, Inc. serve as a premier supplier of complex titanium and aluminium airframe components and assemblies for commercial and defence customers.