One Valley company is already benefiting from the Department of Defense’s plans to replace the military’s existing fleet of fighter jets with the new F-35 Lightning II.

Honeywell Aerospace (NYSE:HON), headquartered in Phoenix, provides critical technology for approximately 14 aircraft systems on the F-35, including the power and thermal management system. This first-ever integrated system combines auxiliary power, environmental controls, engine start and emergency power into a single system with significant weight savings for the aircraft.

A first for any aircraft, the integrated system was developed and produced at one of Honeywell’s Phoenix facilities.

The F-35 also employs more electric architecture developed by Honeywell. This advanced technology offers a dramatic contrast against conventional systems, including:

Savings in aircraft weight of about 1,000 pounds
Savings in aircraft length of about 10 inches
Significantly increased reliability
Savings in aircraft life cycle cost

In addition, Honeywell is providing a variety of other systems for the F-35, including the on-board inert gas generation system, wheels and brakes, radar altimeter, lighting, inertial navigation system/global positioning system, air data transducers and engine fan duct heat exchangers.
These systems are designed and built by Honeywell employees from more than 17 facilities including Clearwater, Fla., Minneapolis, Minn., Rocky Mount, N.C., South Bend, Ind., Torrance, Calif., Phoenix, Tempe and Tucson.
In addition to Honeywell’s work on the F-35, several small businesses in the Valley were recently awarded approximately $12 million in contracts. The businesses are located in Chandler, Mesa and Phoenix. Most of the work involves repatching cracked runaways and making electrical systems at the base more energy efficient.

Luke is expecting to award an additional $1.7 million in contracts to local businesses by the end of the year to complete three more projects.

The F-35, also known as the joint strike fighter, is designed to replace the military’s aging fighter inventories, including the Air Force A-10s and F-16s, the Navy’s F-18s and the Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers and F-18s.

The joint strike fighter program is the largest defense program in U.S. history.

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