Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown has observed production of the centre fuselage for the first RAAF F-35A Joint Strike Fighter during a visit to Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, California facility last week.
AIRMSHL Brown toured Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Assembly Line, which produces F-35 centre fuselage sections, and where the first inlet ducts for the RAAF F-35A AU-1 were jig-loaded on October 9. AU-1 will be handed over to the RAAF in 2014, and initially will be based in the US for pilot training.
“We were honoured to host Air Marshal Brown here in Palmdale,” said Michelle Scarpella, vice president of the F-35 program for Northrop Grumman. “He was able to see firsthand our advanced facility and manufacturing techniques that will help deliver the most advanced and most effective stealthy strike fighter to the Royal Australian Air Force.”
