Patria to Build F-35 Forward Fuselage Assemblies in Finland

Finland’s Patria will start producing F-35 Forward Fuselage Assemblies under a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) the company signed with Lockheed Martin.

“This agreement between Patria and Lockheed Martin on F-35 Forward Fuselage Assembly is a significant milestone for Finland´s F-35 programme and Patria. The large-scale assembly of 400 forward fuselages will take Patria´s industrial capabilities to the next level. The initial co-operation with Lockheed Martin has worked extremely well, which has built a great basis also for the future collaboration,” says Petri Hepola, Chief Program Officer, F-35 at Patria.

The main industrial cooperation projects for Patria include this large-scale assembly of F-35 front fuselages in Finland also for international users and further production of structural components. In addition, Patria will establish production projects with Pratt & Whitney for the F135 engines powering the Finnish F-35s.