|
F-35 Reps Argue All Is Well on International Cooperation
"The sun never sets on the Joint Strike Fighter program," says program manager Rear Adm. Steve Enewold to signal how international the multinational F-35 has become.
But over the past few months some critics outside the U.S. have charged the outlook is for rain more than sun when it comes to work share. Now program supporters at Lockheed Martin and others are fighting back, trying to make the case that the F-35 is good business for companies throughout the partner state and that there are more opportunities to come.
Even though Lockheed Martin preaches a "best value" mantra on JSF, it tracks how it's doing via work share apportioning. In most cases the F-35 team is ahead of targets in providing work to partner countries, although there are one or two where efforts are lagging, says Lockheed Martin's F-35 general manager Tom Burbage.
The company invited several suppliers to make its case, including small firms from Turkey and Australia. Brisbane-based Ferra Engineering has contracts with several JSF partners and has been able to translate those partnerships into winning non-F-35-related work, says company representative Mark Scherrer. "JSF already has done a lot for our company," he adds.
Osman Okyay, CEO of Turkey's Kalekalip, says that the tender process has been "extremely fair." But it does force companies to take calculated risks. The key to winning work has been good communication, he suggests.
International partners also should expect many more opportunities
for business, suggests Pat McDowell, director of business development
at Goodrich, a key JSF supplier. As the focus in a few years shifts
to low-rate and full-rate production, "we will buy larger subassemblies."
In fact, coproduction deals loom that just don't lend themselves
to the current development phase, McDowell adds.
—Robert Wall
back
to ShowNews home
|
