Magellan signs deal to continue building tail assemblies for F-35 fighter program
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Agreement worth more than $70 million over two years; company said U.S. and international orders for new jet beginning to pick up
TORONTO—Magellan Aerospace Corp. has signed a deal to keep building horizontal tail assemblies for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II.
The company has been manufacturing the aircraft components for nearly 10 years under contract with U.K.-based defence company BAE Systems plc as development and production of the next-generation fighter ramps up. Magellan said the agreement is worth more than $70 million over a two-year period.
“This contract represents significant quantities of horizontal tails awarded to Magellan in the ramping up to full scale production,” Phillip Underwood, the company’s president and CEO, said. “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.”
Though the long-running F-35 program has encountered turbulence in numerous countries around the world, including Canada, the company said jet orders from the U.S. and other international program partners are beginning to pick up.
Firm orders for 4,000 jets could be possible over the life of the program, which Magellan said would net the company as much as $2 billion.
