PALMDALE HOPING FOR MORE FIGHTER ASSEMBLY WORK; BOEING TEAM CHECKS OUT LOCAL FACILITIES.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

The city made a good impression on a Boeing team exploring possible sites for Joint Strike Fighter work, Antelope Valley officials said Wednesday.

A Boeing team made a two-day visit of Air Force Plant 42, including visiting Site 4, the B-2 stealth bomber facility being touted by Antelope Valley officials as a good home for the fighter jet.

After visiting Palmdale, the Boeing JSF team moved on to St. Louis to tour facilities there.

``This is certainly a good first step,'' said David Foy, spokesman for Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, who extended the invitation to visit Site 4. ``It's a sign that Boeing is looking seriously at bringing JSF work to Palmdale.''

Antelope Valley officials are trying to lure as much work on the Joint Strike Fighter as possible to the region. At stake is the last great military aircraft production effort on the horizon, with a value of $750 billion to $1 trillion over the life of the program.

Boeing is competing with Lockheed Martin for the production contract. Boeing officials have said they plan to build the fighter in St. Louis, provided that ``stringent cost objectives are satisfied.''

Antelope Valley officials hope to change Boeing's mind. In the meantime, Boeing is exploring sites for other JSF work, including where to do engineering manufacturing development - the phase where the first aircraft are produced and flight-tested to refine the production design.

``We are making a review of sites and manufacturing techniques across the country at Boeing sites so we have a good case study for where to do parts manufacturing, assembly and final assembly for EMD,'' said Boeing JSF spokesman Mike Tull. ``All of that is part of the process for developing our proposal for EMD.''

Boeing is building its two JSF prototypes at Plant 42.

Lockheed Martin is building its JSF prototypes at neighboring Plant 10. Lockheed Martin plans to do the final assembly of JSF aircraft at Fort Worth, Texas, if it wins the production contract.

However, the company does plan to do parts manufacturing for the program in Palmdale, an effort that could bring in as many as 5,000 jobs.

The Pentagon plans to buy more than 3,000 Joint Strike Fighters to replace the Air Force's F-16, the Navy's FA-18 and the Marine Corps' AV-8B Harrier. The British Royal Navy also is looking to acquire the aircraft.