Italy Takes Delivery of First F-35

Italy took formal delivery Thursday of its first joint strike fighter — the first F-35 to be built outside the US.

Italy has formally received its first F-35. Here, the aircraft rolls out of the Cameri production facility.

The handover took place at Italy’s Cameri Air Base, where Italy’s joint strike fighters are being assembled, after the aircraft made its first flight at Cameri in September.

The Cameri final assembly and check out (FACO) line is owned by the Italian government and operated by Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi and Lockheed Martin.

The aircraft, AL-1, is expected to fly across the Atlantic in February to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona — marking the first trans-Atlantic F-35 flight — where Italian pilots will train in it under US supervision. Enroute to the US, the plane will be refueled by an Italian 767 tanker.

The FACO line at Cameri is the only one of its kind outside the US and will also serve as a maintenance hub for European based JSFs after being designated for the role by the Pentagon last year.

AL-1, the first of Italy’s currently planned 90 JSFs, came off the line in March and its engines were turned on for the first time in June.

Italian pilots are already training at Luke. Last month, two Italian pilots completed initial F-35 training there, making the first F-35 flights under the control of Italian pilots. The US Air Force said one of the pilots flew an Australian F-35.

Northrop Grumman Delivers Center Fuselage for Italy's First F-35 Lightning I

Northrop Grumman delivered the center fuselage for Italy's first F-35 Lightning II to the newly commissioned Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility at Italy's Cameri Air Base July 12. This on-time delivery to Lockheed Martin enables the first assembly of an F-35 aircraft at the FACO facility and increases international participation on the F-35 program.

In early July 2013, Northrop Grumman prepared the center fuselage for Italy's first F-35 Lighting II for delivery to the newly commissioned Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility at Italy's Cameri Air Base. The delivery to Lockheed Martin supports the first assembly of an F-35 aircraft at the FACO facility and increases international participation on the F-35 program.

The center fuselage, AL-1, will be integrated into a conventional takeoff and landing variant of the F-35, and represents the first of 90 center fuselage sections that will be delivered to the Italian FACO facility for Italian aircraft.

"We started working on AL-1 in September 2012, when it was inducted into our Integrated Assembly Line [IAL] at our Palmdale facility," said Michelle Scarpella, vice president of the F-35 program for Northrop Grumman.

"It's the 115th center fuselage we've completed here in Palmdale, and marks another program milestone, as we continue to stand up and grow international F-35 participation."

The IAL maximizes robotics and automation, providing additional assembly capability while meeting engineering tolerances that are not easily achieved using manual methods. The IAL is central in producing the F-35's center fuselage as well as increasing the program's affordability, quality and efficiency.

Currently, there are 35 center fuselages in flow on the IAL, including some for Australia and additional ones for Italy; deliveries have already been made to Ft Worth for final assembly and delivery to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Set on 101 acres in Italy's Piedmont region, the FACO facility at Cameri will be one of a kind in Europe.

With 22 buildings, more than a million square feet of covered work space, 11 final assembly workstations - including four outfitted for electronic mate and assembly - and five maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade bays, the FACO at Cameri is positioned to serve as a new hub for the Italian aerospace industry.

As a principal member of the Lockheed Martin-led F-35 industry team, Northrop Grumman performs a significant share of the work required to develop and produce the aircraft.

In addition to manufacturing the F-35 center fuselage, Northrop Grumman designed and produces the aircraft's radar and other key avionics including electro-optical and communications, navigation and identification subsystems.

Northrop Grumman also develops mission systems and mission planning software, leads the team's development of pilot and maintenance training system courseware, and manages the team's use, support and maintenance of low-observable technologies. In 2012, the company delivered 32 center fuselages and is on track to exceed 2012 delivery quantities in 2013.