F-35 AIRCRAFT LOSES WEIGHT JSF NOW READY FOR NEXT PHASE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Pentagon and Lockheed Martin officials said they have trimmed weight from the F-35 joint strike fighter and are now focused on the airplane's production.

Program officials said more than 2,700 pounds have been cut from the short-takeoff/vertical-landing version of the F-35, while propulsion efficiency has been increased.

Program officials said they would, at an Oct. 14 review, present a design that would meet or exceed all performance requirements.

``The F-35 is now tracking ahead of its key performance parameters, and past concerns about the aircraft's aerodynamic performance have diminished,'' said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 JSF program integration. ``Because of the design similarities among the three F-35 variants, many of the STOVL-version refinements will translate to the conventional and carrier versions, which already met their performance requirements even before the STOVL improvements were instituted.''

The short-takeoff/vertical-landing variant of the F-35 is being developed to replace the Marine Corp's AV-8B Harrier jet. The excess weight had been a concern because of potential impacts on performance.

The short-takeoff/vertical-landing variant is expected to fly in 2007.

The F-35 program involves the development and production of three variants - a conventional takeoff and landing aircraft for the Air Force, an aircraft carrier variant for the Navy, and the short-takeoff/vertical-landing aircraft for the Marines and for the United Kingdom Royal Navy.

The F-35s will replace the Harrier, the Air Force's A-10 and F-16 aircraft, and the Navy's F/A-18 Hornet. The F-35 will also replace the United Kingdom's Harrier GR-7 and Sea Harrier aircraft.

In May, Northrop Grumman, a major partner on the program, began the assembly of the first F-35 center fuselage section in Palmdale. The center fuselage makes up about 40 percent of the aircraft.

Production of control surfaces and edges will soon be under way at Lockheed Martin's Palmdale plant.

Last month BAE Systems began assembling the aft fuselage and tails in England, and Lockheed Martin started wing assembly and forward-fuselage work at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, plant, program officials said.

Final assembly will be conducted in Fort Worth.

Plans call for producing 2,593 joint strike fighter aircraft at a cost projected at $200 billion.

The program is in the system development and demonstration phase, which involves refining the design and building test aircraft. In this phase, costing $40 billion, 14 flying and eight ground test aircraft will be built.

The first test aircraft, a conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, is scheduled to fly in August 2006. A portion of the flight test program will be conducted at Edwards Air Force Base.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com