Boeing

Boeing has delivered the first composite wing skin for its Joint Strike Fighter X-32A concept demonstrator to its final assembly plant in Palmdale, Calif. Shown here, Boeing employees in Seattle help guide the wing skin as it is positioned for shipment. The wing skin was flown to Palmdale. The skin, measuring nearly 29 feet across and weighing 742 pounds, is part of a single-unit composite wing module that sits atop the Joint Strike Fighter fuselage. The single-unit wing enables a highly modular approach that simplifies assembly processes and reduces cost. The single-unit wing also reduces weight by eliminating heavy side-of-body wing attachments. Boeing is competing to build the Joint Strike Fighter under a four-year joint U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps concept demonstration contract