BAE Systems has opened a new advanced titanium machining facility at its Samlesbury site in Lancashire, UK.

The robotic facility will be used to manufacture detail and assembly components of the aft fuselage, vertical tail and horizontal tail for the F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft.

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The facility will include two computerised flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) to manage the manufacturing requirements and machine tool utilisation.

Each FMS will contain eight large hard metal milling machines and two long spar longeron machines.

The facility is equipped to allow two titanium components to be produced at the same time, doubling manufacturing efficiency during full rate production.

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