BAE Systems (Outdoor Exhibit 11) completed the 250th aft fuselage for the F-35 Lighting II program at its plant in Samlesbury, Lancashire, the company announced Monday. Once complete, the fuselage section will travel to Lockheed Martin’s final assembly facility in Forth Worth, Texas, where mechanics will integrate it with the rest of the aircraft.

The plant in Samlesbury is now undergoing a 4,500-square-meter expansion due for completion by January. Once complete, the new facility will have the capacity to make 160 shipsets a year, an increase of more than 150 percent over current levels.

Separately, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have announced they will work together at Royal Air Force Marham to support F135 engines and the LiftSystems on the UK’s F-35Bs. The companies plan to institute a performance-based logistics (PBL) approach to sustainment for the propulsion systems. Under the contract, Pratt & Whiney will concentrate on system-level performance of the F-135 engines while Rolls-Royce leads on support for the LiftSystem technology it developed and produced. It also has agreed to undertake some delegated support work on the main F135 engine.