Two Major Development Milestones on F-35 Lightning II Program

, PALMDALE: Northrop Grumman Corporation today reached two major milestones on the F-35 Lightning II aircraft program: the delivery of the center fuselage for the first U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) variant and the start of assembly of the center fuselage for the first U.S. Navy variant. The company celebrated the milestones at a ceremony held at the company's F-35 manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif. 
 
The center fuselage delivered today is only the second such unit to be produced under the F-35 program. The first, delivered in April 2005, was integrated on the first aircraft that took its maiden flight Dec. 15. Northrop Grumman plans to ship the USMC variant to Ft. Worth, Texas on Jan. 8 for the beginning of the aircraft's final assembly.