Lockheed Martin opens new facility to support F-35 production growth

Lockheed Martin currently employs approximately 270 people at the Pinellas Park, Florida operation. The new facility will assemble canopies and bulkheads for the F-35 Lightning II program. The expanded work is a result of the rapid growth of the F-35 production program. The facility, located in Pinellas County, adds 65,500ft² of manufacturing and office space and is expected to begin delivering parts to the main F-35 production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, by mid-summer. In 2018 alone, the Pinellas facility will deliver more than 200 F-35 components to support production and sustainment of the growing F-35 fleet.

"This is an exciting day for us in Pinellas Park," said André Trotter, program director and general manager of the Lockheed Martin Pinellas Park operation. "Continued growth and success of the F-35 program is vital to our national security. The hard-working men and women who produce critical components for the F-35 program are what make all of this possible."

Across Florida, Lockheed Martin operations employ about 14,400 people. In addition to the new jobs in Pinellas Park, Lockheed Martin recently announced an additional 500 jobs by the end of 2019 in Orlando. Work on the F-35 in Florida includes 97 businesses employing nearly 22,500 direct and indirect jobs.

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