Northrop Grumman takes delivery of first production F-35 air inlet duct

Turkish Aerospace Industries, (TAI), a major international F-35 Lightning II supplier to Northrop Grumman, has delivered its first production air inlet duct for the jet. The delivery of the all-composite duct, a major structural element of the F-35’s center fuselage, will support Northrop Grumman’s production of F-35 center fuselages for conventional takeoff and landing variants at its aerospace production facility in Palmdale, Calif. Northrop Grumman is a principal subcontractor of the Lockheed Martin led F-35 industry team. TAI produced the air inlet duct at its composites manufacturing facility in Ankara, Turkey, as part of a five-year, $28.4 million contract awarded to the company in September 2009 by Northrop Grumman.