Rolls-Royce Delivers 1st Production Liftsystem Hardware for F-35 STOVL

(December 23, 2008) -- Rolls-Royce today announced it has delivered its first production Variable Area Vane Box Nozzle (VAVBN) to Pratt & Whitney for integration on the F-35B Lightning II aircraft. The VAVBN is now ready to be shipped to Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) partner Northrop Grumman for integration into the aircraft. Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems are the principal industrial partners developing the F-35 with Lockheed Martin Corporation.

The VAVBN is integral to the aircraft structure and is used to control the LiftFan exit airflow when the short take-off vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the aircraft is operated in powered-lift mode. Final assembly was completed at the Rolls-Royce facilities in Indianapolis.

Dennis Jarvi, President for Rolls-Royce Defense North America, said: "Today's delivery represents a significant milestone for the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem program. The VAVBN provides both thrust vectoring and area-control capability and is an integral part of the aircraft structure. It has undergone over 3500 hours of development testing in the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) program. We are extremely proud that it is ready for production delivery on schedule."

Source : Rolls-Royce - click here for more information