Israel Aerospace Industries launches production line of F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet wings

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World Defense & Security Industry News - Israel Aerospace Industries
 
 
Israel Aerospace Industries launches production line of F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet wings
 
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) inaugurated on Tuesday its wing production line for the F-35 fighter jet, calling it a milestone in its decades-long partnership with Lockheed Martin, the aircraft's manufacturer. The inauguration, held at Lahav Division's Lod plant, was attended by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro and Pat Dewar, Executive VP of Lockheed Martin International.
     
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) inaugurated on Tuesday its wing production line for the F-35 fighter jet, calling it a milestone in its decades-long partnership with Lockheed Martin, the aircraft's manufacturer. The inauguration, held at Lahav Division's Lod plant, was attended by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro and Pat Dewar, Executive VP of Lockheed Martin International. By 2030 IAI will have produced more than 800 F-35 wing-sets
     
Rafi Maor, IAI's Chairman of the Board, said that tens of millions of dollars were invested in the assembly line.

"By 2030 IAI will have produced more than 800 F-35 wing-sets, with a production rate at about four pairs of wings per month," Maor said, adding that the first pair of wings, whose upper and lower skins are made of composite materials that makes the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter nearly invisible to the most anti-aircraft radars, will be delivered in mid-2015.

In the past, the Lahav Division has manufactured the wings for Lockheed Martin's F-16 Falcon fighter jets and the U.S. Air Force' s T-38 trainer aircraft, as well as assemblies for Boeing commercial jets and other customers.

The unveiling of the production line came amid tensions between Washington and Jerusalem over the recent approval of plans for new housing in east Jerusalem, which some Israeli analysts have described as the worst crisis in relations between the allies in decades.

At the ceremony, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon hailed the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, calling it " unbreakable" alliance.

"An argument, as harsh as it may be, will not darken the relations between the countries and the gratitude Israelis feel toward the U.S. and its role in our defense and power," Ya'alon added.

Citing the need to maintain a qualitative edge over its regional foes, Israel ordered 19 F-35s in a 2.75 billion U.S. dollars deal signed in 2012 following Pentagon approval, and has only recently finalized the terms of a deal to purchase an additional 19 aircraft for a second squadron, Israeli media reported last week. In April 2013, IAI signed a 15-year contract with Lockheed Martin for the production of the fifth-generation aircraft's wings.