Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, has announced that Marvin Engineering Co. Inc. and Lockheed Martin have signed a second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Brisbane-based Ferra Engineering for more high value Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) work.
“In a deal that is potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Ferra has been selected as the primary source to manufacture and assemble additional weapon adaptor assembly components for the JSF,” said Combet.
“For the past four years Ferra has been manufacturing JSF weapon adaptor assemblies which allow the aircraft to carry different ordnance for different missions. The adapters were used in the System Development & Demonstration and initial Low Rate Initial Production phases of the JSF Program.
“Marvin Engineering is one of the US’ largest precision machining firms, specialising in the engineering design and manufacture of aerospace components.
“Ferra, a small privately-owned company of around 100 people, is one of Australia’s leading manufacturers of light metal components for the defence/aerospace, telecommunications/electronics and automotive industry sectors.
“The Government welcomes this significant step toward securing a major opportunity for Australian industry on the JSF Program.
“With Defence support, Ferra is also working with Lockheed Martin for the development of new manufacturing techniques to reduce the costs of machining titanium for the JSF and other aerospace programs,” Combet said.
In stressing the importance of such long term agreements for Australian companies, Mr Combet said the agreements improve Australian companies’ business case for investment in capability and capacity to meet the increasing volumes demanded by the JSF Program.
“As predicted last year, major opportunities are opening up for Australian companies on the JSF Program as production rates ramp up,” Combet said.