Today, in Cameri (Italy), the first italian F-35,aircraft AL-1, will be rolled out from the FACO in front of all military and civil personnel involved in the production.
Now the plane is in primer color, then will be painted and so should be ready for the flying tests before to be sent in Luke AFB to train the first pilots and instructors.
Here the link of La Stampa newspaper article covering the news:
First-Ever Italian F-35A Rolls Out of Cameri, Italy, Production Facility
Cameri, Italy // March 12, 2015
History was achieved today when the first Italian F-35A Lightning II rolled out of the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility here. This production milestone marks the first F-35A assembled internationally and the first of eight aircraft currently being assembled at Cameri. The aircraft, designated as AL-1, will now proceed to additional check-out activities before its anticipated first flight later this year.
The rollout exhibits the ongoing strong partnership between the Italian Ministry of Defense, industry partner Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi, and Lockheed Martin. The Italian FACO is owned by the Italian Ministry of Defense and is operated by Alenia Aermacchi in conjunction with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics with a current workforce of more than 750 skilled personnel engaged in F-35 aircraft and wing production.
“The Cameri FACO is truly a national crown jewel, currently assembling the first eight Italian F-35As and producing wings for all F-35As fleet-wide,” said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin Vice President and F-35 Program Manager. “Additionally, as the European F-35 airframe Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade center, it will generate thousands of long-term, high-tech jobs for the Italian people for decades. Lockheed Martin is proud of our relationship with Italy and values the highly-skilled Alenia Aermacchi workforce building this incredible jet.”
The FACO will build all Italian F-35A and F-35B aircraft, is programmed to build F-35As for the Royal Netherlands Air Force and retains the capacity to deliver to other European partners in the future. In December 2014, it was selected by the U.S. Department of Defense as the F-35 Lightning II Heavy Airframe Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade facility for the European region. The 101-acre facility includes 22 buildings and more than one million square feet of covered work space, housing 11 assembly stations, and five maintenance, repair, overhaul, and upgrade bays. The first full F-35A wing section was recently completed and will soon be shipped to Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, F-35 production line for final assembly.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been flown in air-to-air combat maneuvers against F-16s for the first time and,
based on the results of these and earlier flight-envelope evaluations,
test pilots say the aircraft can be cleared for greater agility as a growth option.
“The door is open to provide a little more maneuverability,” says Lockheed Martin F-35 site lead test pilot David “Doc” Nelson.
The operational maneuvers were flown by Nelson in AF-2, the primary Flight Sciences loads and flutter evaluation aircraft, and one of nine F-35s used by the Edwards AFB-based 412th Test Wing for developmental testing (DT).
With the full flight envelope now opened to an altitude of 50,000 ft., speeds of Mach 1.6/700 KCAS and loads of 9g, test pilots also say improvements to the flight control system have rendered the transonic roll-off (TRO) issue tactically irrelevant.
The US government will provide F-35 fighter jets to Israel next year to the country a strategic advantage over its rivals in the Middle East, US Vice President Joe Biden said during a speech celebrating Israeli independence.
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