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Magellan Aerospace (Magellan) has announced that it will be producing F-35 Lightning II horizontal tail assemblies under an agreement with BAE Systems. The agreement is the continuation of annual contract awards made to Magellan by BAE Systems for F-35 assemblies, valued at more than $70 million over a two-year period.
Magellan and BAE Systems have been working together to produce horizontal tails for the global F-35 program for almost a decade, signing the original letter of intent (LOI) for this agreement at the Farnborough Air Show in 2006. Building on that initial commitment, both companies have since made significant investment in the facilities, technologies and training to ensure the successful delivery of these flight-critical assemblies to the customer.
The horizontal tail assemblies produced at Magellan will be used on the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant of the F-35. At present, Magellan plans to produce more than 1,000 ship sets of horizontal tail assemblies over the life of the F-35 program.
“This contract represents significant quantities of horizontal tails awarded to Magellan in the ramping up to full scale production,” said Phillip Underwood, Magellan’s president and CEO. “The ability to meet the increased annual volumes is an essential element of achieving F-35 program objectives in support of our customer’s global obligations. Magellan will be producing approximately half of the CTOL horizontal tails required each year.”
“Magellan’s projected total revenues for the F-35 program could reach $2.0 billion based on the current anticipated aircraft requirements,” said Scott McCrady, Magellan’s corporate F-35 program director. “We are seeing significant increases in annual program quantities from both the U.S. DoD and the international partners.” The program could produce up to 4,000 F-35 fighters globally.
