WASHINGTON - Australia and Japan were awarded workshare by the F35 Joint Strike Fighter program on December 17. Both countries will serve as hubs for heavy airframe and engine maintenance in the Pacific region, with Japan acting as northern center and Australia as the southern. Under the outlines of the program Australia will begin work on heavy engine maintenance for the southern hub in 2018, with Japan then following 3-5 years later. Australia is purchasing 100 F-35s, while Japan has plans to acquire 42 so far.
Japan will also develop a final assembly and check-out (FACO) facility that is in the midst of being constructed. Unlike those in Texas and Italy, Japan's is being built vertically due to the lack of available land. Pratt & Whitney will work with both Australia and Japan in setting up their respective depots for maintenance of the F135 engine.
Another Pacific Rim customer of the F-35 combat aircraft, South Korea, has let it be known it is not happy with sending its fighters to Japan for airframe maintenance. Instead it will fly its jets all the way to Australia for their upkeep rather than place them in the hands of their traditional rival.
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