Lockheed Martin managed to reduce the total number of identified problems with its F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter by two in 2020 – though 871 deficiencies remain.
By Greg Waldron2020-12-30T03:18:00+00:00
Lockheed Martin delivered 123 F-35s in 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic reducing output of the stealthy type.
The 123 deliveries comprised 74 examples delivered to the US military, 31 to international partner nations, and 18 to Foreign Military Sales customers. The 123rd aircraft was an F-35A delivered from the Final Assembly and Checkout facility in Cameri, Italy.
Source: US Air Force
A US Air Force F-35A taking off from an air base in Spain
Earlier in December, Lockheed had said that it was likely to only hit 121 deliveries in the year.
2020’s deliveries, however, fell short of the 134 examples transferred in 2019. Lockheed notes that owing to supplier delays related to disruption wrought by Covid-19, it had to revise its original delivery goal for the year downwards from the 141 originally planned, aiming to deliver 117-123 aircraft.
Boeing
Space launch system upper stage passes critical design review
Successful independent review advances more powerful Block 1B rocket to next phase in development and transition to hardware build.
Boeing and NASA have successfully completed a critical design review for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), confirming the EUS design for continued development and transition to hardware build. Boeing has already started fabrication activities that will support building the first EUS at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The SLS rocket uses staged propulsion to send NASA’s
Orion spacecraft and astronauts, plus supplies, to the moon and beyond. The Boeing-built core stage powers the SLS in early flight, eventually separating when the upper stage takes over and provides the power to send crewed vehicles, space habitats, and other payloads on
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