Lockheed Martin has rolled out the first F-35A Lightning II joint strike fighter aircraft from the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility at Cameri Air Base in northern Italy.
The aircraft, known as AL-1, is the first internationally assembled F-35. It will proceed to additional check-out activities before embarking on its first flight for the Italian Air Force later this year.
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Seven more aircraft are currently being assembled at the facility.
The Cameri FACO is owned by the Italian Defence Ministry, and is jointly operated by Lockheed and Alenia Aermacchi with a current workforce of more than 750 personnel engaged in F-35 aircraft and wing production.
Lockheed Martin executive vice-president and F-35 programme manager Lorraine Martin said: "The Cameri FACO is truly a national crown jewel, currently assembling the first eight Italian F-35As and producing wings for all F-35As fleet-wide.
"Additionally, as the European F-35 airframe maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade centre, it will generate thousands of long-term, high-tech jobs for the Italian people for decades.
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By GlobalData"Lockheed Martin is proud of its relationship with Italy and values the highly-skilled Alenia Aermacchi workforce building this incredible jet."
The FACO is scheduled to manufacture all Italian F-35A and F-35B aircraft. It is also programmed to build F-35As for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, while retaining the capacity to supply to other European partners in the future.
The 101-acre facility houses 11 assembly stations, and five maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade bays. It was also selected by the US Department of Defense as the F-35 heavy airframe maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade facility for the European region in December 2014.
Recently, the FACO completed its first full F-35A wing section that will soon be shipped to Lockheed’s F-35 production line in Fort Worth, Texas, US, for final assembly.
The F-35 is a fifth-generation multi-role fighter aircraft, and is designed to conduct a wide range of ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defence missions with stealth capability.
The three F-35 variants include a conventional take-off and landing aircraft for the US and allied air forces, a short takeoff and landing fighter for the US Marine Corps and the UK Royal Navy, as well as a carrier version for the US Navy.
Image: The first Italian assembled F-35A aircraft rolls out of the Cameri Final Assembly and Check Out facility in Italy. Photo: courtesy of Lockheed Martin photo by Larry Bramblett.
