Secretary of War Hegseth visits F-35 production facility as deliveries of fighter jet hit records and milestones
"Thank you all so much for what you do, for why you're doing it. We are shoulder to shoulder with you because we can't deter the next conflict without the skills and capabilities you have," Hegseth told the F-35 assembly line employees. (Photo Credit: Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin recently welcomed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to the Fort Worth, Texas, F-35 Lightning II production facility. The visit was part of the secretary's Arsenal of Freedom industry tour and underscored Lockheed Martin's role in accelerating acquisition transformation and delivering critical capabilities to the warfighter.
During the tour, Hegseth toured the F-35 assembly line, met with Lockheed Martin leaders and addressed more than 600 of the 19,000 Fort Worth employees.
"I'm looking out into an incredible audience of Americans here who are committed to an incredible company that's building incredible platforms," Hegseth said. "Thank you for accepting and grasping the challenge of President Trump as well as our department.
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"It was an honor to host Secretary of War Hegseth during his visit to our F-35 production operation in Fort Worth, Texas, and introduce him to members of our amazing workforce who in 2025 delivered a record number of 191 fighter jets," said Jim Taiclet, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin.
Propelled by the strength of American manufacturing, annual F-35 production is running at a pace five times faster than any other allied fighter currently in production, underscoring the program's scale and maturity. Over 1,900 suppliers across the United States, more than half of which are small businesses, contribute to the F-35 supply chain.
Another one of those suppliers, Northrop Grumman, reached a significant milestone by delivering the 1,500th center fuselage for the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter from its Integrated Assembly Line (IAL) in Palmdale, California.
Center fuselages for all three variants of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft are assembled at Northrop Grumman's Integrated Assembly Line in Palmdale, CA. (Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman)
Using advanced manufacturing technologies, the IAL delivers one center fuselage every 30 hours and produces center fuselages for all three F-35 variants on a single production line.
The use of augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) tools on the IAL led to a 35 percent reduction in center fuselage assembly time and a 20 percent reduction in technician learning curve.
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