Quickstep, Northrop Grumman sign long-term F-35 deal

Quickstep Holdings Ltd. (North Coogee, Australia) on Feb. 2 announced that it has signed a long-term agreement (LTA) to manufacture composite parts for the international F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program over the next 20 years.

Under the framework established in the LTA, first JSF parts and first cash flow will be delivered in 2012. The LTA was signed in Sydney, Australia, with Northrop Grumman Corp. (Los Angeles, Calif., USA). The LTA is the first of several agreements which will implement the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that was signed in November 2009 with F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, one of its principal F-35 subcontractors.

The agreement is to be followed by annual purchase orders, with further manufacturing contracts expected to be awarded thereafter. Under the MOU, Quickstep will supply up to 16 different JSF components, including lower side skins, maintenance access panels, fuel tank covers, lower skins and in-board weapons bay doors, projected to amount to some 36,000+ parts over the life of the program and could generate annual turnover of around $50 million by 2015. The total value of the work over the life of the aircraft could be up to $700 million. 

With this large-scale manufacturing agreement now in place, Quickstep also announced plans to establish a major new aerospace manufacturing facility at Bankstown Airport in southwest Sydney, signing a 10-year lease over 4,200 m²/45,208 ft² of buildings that were previously used by Boeing.

Quickstep’s move to Bankstown will include the transfer of R&D programs relating to the company’s proprietary composites manufacturing technology – the Quickstep Process - which will form a key component of Quickstep’s future licensing and export capabilities from Australia.