HYDERABAD: The wings for F-21 fighter jets are all set to be ‘Made in Hyderabad’ with Tata-Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Ltd (TLMAL), which is the single global source of C-130J empennage assemblies for the Super Hercules aircraft, being formally recognized as a potential future co-producer by US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.
The formal recognition comes after TLMAL, which had entered into a pact with Lockheed Martin in 2018 to develop a fighter wing prototype, was able to demonstrate the capability to perform detailed part manufacturing and delivery of a fully compliant representative fighter aircraft wing shipset.
Lockheed Martin said this achievement further strengthens its partnership with India and “supports its F-21 offering for procurement of 114 new fighter aircraft exclusively for India and the Indian Air Force by proving additional indigenous production capability”.
“Lockheed Martin partnered with TLMAL to build one of the most technologically complex aerostructures — a fuel-carrying 9G, 12,000-hour, interchangeable and replaceable fighter wing,” said Aimee Burnett, vice president of strategy and business development, Lockheed Martin Integrated Fighter Group.
“This effort represents Lockheed Martin demonstrating to India, and to the world, the degree of confidence that exists in our relationships with our partners in India. Lockheed Martin is one of the only aerospace and defence companies with a complex aerostructure capability for advanced fighters in India,” Burnett added.
Speaking at an event to mark the first fighter wing prototype built at the TLMAL facility on Tuesday, Telangana IT & industries minister KT Rama Rao said that the development, which comes after the successful certification and deliveries of F-16 fighter jet wings, echoes Lockheed Martin’s confidence in Telangana’s manufacturing capabilities and is a testimony to the advanced skill base and capabilities of Hyderabad’s defence and aerospace ecosystem.
He also pointed out that increasingly aerospace and defence OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) from US, UK, France and Israel are choosing Telangana to establish their state-of-the-art manufacturing, engineering, training and innovation centres in India, even as the state houses a large cluster of over 1,000 local MSMEs engaged in precision engineering industry catering to the aerospace and defence sector, many of which are integrated into global supply chains.
