Alcoa to Fix Press to Build Lockheed F-35 Jet Parts

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, is set to invest $110 million to repair one of the nation’s biggest pieces of industrial machinery to help boost output for Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 fighter jet. The 50,000-ton Cleveland Works press, which has been out of service for more than a year, will be completely disassembled and renovated in the next two years, said Bill Christopher, head of Alcoa’s engineered-products division. John Kent, a spokesman for Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed, said his company expects to extend Alcoa’s contract as a result of the commitment. The 92-foot (28-meter) structure, with four stories above ground and four below, began production in Cleveland in 1955 and has been out of service since a crack was found in its base in August 2008. Alcoa needs the press to make aluminum-alloy bulkheads for Lockheed’s F-35 Lightning II fighter. The Pentagon is accelerating production of the jet, its largest weapons program ever at $298.8 billion. “The F-35 absolutely is the driving factor” behind the repair, Christopher, 55, said in an interview yesterday. “The pure amount of sales and volume for the F-35 requires us to have the 50,000-ton press at full run. We are making parts today on a 35,000-ton press” that will exceed its capacity as production of the fighter ramps up. New York-based Alcoa aims to complete the project by the end of 2011’s second quarter, aided by $21 million in state and local tax credits, Christopher said. 10-Year Contract Alcoa won a 10-year, $360 million contract from Lockheed in 2007 to supply parts for the F-35, including structural supports that can weigh as much as 6,000 pounds each and reach 23 feet in length. About $24 million of the refurbishments are specifically related to testing and processing equipment for the F-35, Christopher said. Lockheed and Alcoa are negotiating an extension of that contract as part of Alcoa’s decision to commit to the costly repair, Christopher and Kent both said. Both declined to give details. “We are pleased to learn that Alcoa is undertaking a full renovation of its 50,000-ton press,” Kent said in an e-mail. “The renovation of the 50,000-ton press will help ensure that the expansion and maintenance of F-35 production continues without interruption throughout the life of the program.” There has been no impact to F-35 production so far as a result of the issues with the 50,000-ton press, Kent said. Production with Alcoa’s existing presses will allow sufficient capacity for F-35 production demands well into the middle of the next decade, he said. Precision Castparts Corp. owns the only other 50,000-ton press in the U.S., in Grafton, Massachusetts. Both machines were a result of U.S. Air Force investments as part of the Heavy Press Program in the 1950s, according to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The society has registered both the presses as landmarks. To contact the reporter on this story: Edmond Lococo in Boston at elococo@bloomberg.net.