A $2.5 million Federal Government grant to BAE Systems Australia will be used to develop its work on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and target new work machining parts for aircraft engines.
BAE Systems is already successfully machining parts for the F-35 Vertical Tail program at its Edinburgh Parks facility, north of Adelaide.
The current F-35 work program will be at full production by 2019 and continue until 2035.
To support the additional work, two new titanium milling machines will be installed and operational by September 2016. As well as machining F-35 parts, which requires cutting titanium, one of the machines will also be able to rotate parts at high speed making it suitable for producing engine parts.
The $2.5 million grant will assist with the cost of procurement of one of the machines, as well as the cost of training operators and programmers.
“The grant, secured under the Next Generation Manufacturing Investment program, will enable the company to expand its highly specialised titanium machining capabilities," BAE Systems Advanced Technologies Program Manager Stuart Lindley said.
"The grant has been pivotal in supporting the expansion of our titanium facility. The new machines will help support a steep increase in our work load. The additional capability of being able to produce ‘cylindrical’ parts will provide further opportunity for us to bid for new work that wasn’t available to us previously.
"The investment we’re making in advanced technologies, supported by both the State and Federal Governments, will provide a long-term opportunity for our business and provide flow on benefits for businesses in our supply chain here in South Australia and interstate”.