Lockheed Starts Post-F-22 Transition in Marietta

Lockheed Martin has entered the final 12 months of a key transition phase at its massive final assembly plant for the F-22 in Marietta, Georgia.

By November 2011, Lockheed is scheduled to roll the last of 187 F-22s and the first inner-wing shipset of the F-35 out of the historic B-1 building. But contrary to warnings about job losses prior to the F-22's termination, activity inside the Marietta factory has never been busier. In addition to gaining a major share of the F-35 supply chain, the site is in the process of trebling C-130J production to about 36 a year, while also ramping up outer-wing production.

Over the next 12 months, Lockheed's goal in Marietta is to complete a seamless transition from F-22 final assembly site to F-35 structural supplier, with the vast majority of the F-22 workforce crossing over to F-35 production.

"On the production side, our focus right now is to finish strong [on F-22]," says Jeff Babione, F-22 deputy programme manager.

Past experience suggests efficiency drops as production lines near their final days of activity. But Lockheed intends to accelerate the pace of F-22 final assembly to smooth the transition schedule.

Lockheed workers are currently assembling the 169th of 187 F-22s that will be delivered to the US Air Force by February or March 2012. The last airframe will actually roll out of the B-1 factory in November 2011, allowing two to three months for check-out flights, fixing glitches and applying coatings and paint.

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