F-35. Photo: Harris Corp.
Harris Corp. has achieved major cost savings and delivery milestones for avionics supporting the F-35 Lightning II, the Melbourne, Fla.-based aerospace manufacturer noted this week.
Since the beginning of the F-35 program, Harris has worked with industry partners to deliver more than 780,000 items with 99.8 percent on time accuracy. This includes vibration isolated and liquid cooled avionics racks and power supplies for all the aircraft mission systems; network interface units that enable fiber optic data communication between mission subsystems throughout the aircraft; phased array antennas and datalinks that ensure encrypted and secure communication between aircraft; and lightweight pneumatic carriage and release racks that support the aircraft’s low observable profile.
Since its first deliveries of avionics, Harris has implemented affordability initiatives that have reduced the avionics ship set cost for each aircraft by 64 percent. In addition, Harris has provided modular components and common parts to 21 other F-35 suppliers resulting in more than $750 million in cost savings over the life of the production program.
As part of every aircraft, Harris delivers more than 1,500 module components, 58 network interface units, 21 power supplies, 7 integrated racks, 6 advanced antenna arrays, and 3 antenna interface units.