As Congress looks further into the F-35 stealth fighter jet, Meggitt Defense Systems Inc. in Irvine says it’s a good program that benefits small companies in Orange County.
The company builds high-performance smart fans for the F-35 at its local facility, accounting for important annual revenue that is expected to grow, said Gerry Janicki, vice president of strategy/business development at Meggitt. He said that Meggitt’s role is “minor” compared to the size of the whole program.
“About 60% to 70% of our suppliers are small businesses and small disadvantaged businesses in Orange County,” he told the Business Journal on July 22.
“We’ve been working full speed ahead but safely throughout this whole pandemic,” Janicki said. “The Department of Defense has not let up.”
The Business Journal spoke with him shortly after the U.S. House of Representatives’ Oversight and Reform Committee held a hearing on the trillion-dollar F-35 project.
House Committee
Committee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, said prime contractor Lockheed Martin provided defective spare parts and an inadequate information technology system for the F-35.
Maloney quoted a June 2019 Department of Defense Inspector General’s report, as saying: “Lockheed Martin has failed to adequately deliver spare parts for the F-35 program since 2015.”
The inspector general estimated that more than $300 million was spent on additional labor costs between 2015 and 2018 as a result of Lockheed Martin’s failure to provide F-35 spare parts with logs and that DOD will continue to pay $55 million a year if issues are not resolved, Maloney said.
DefenseNews.com reported in June last year that the F-35 has been hit with various issues, including damage caused at high speed, cabin pressure issues, problems with the logistics system and impaired pilot visibility when landing on an aircraft carrier. DefenseNews reported in April the program had put in place “stopgap fixes” for five key technical flaws.
On the other hand, Forbes magazine said last month the F-35 is “performing far better than critics would have you think.”
Orange County
Orange County is home to roughly 120 suppliers supporting 11,450 jobs involved in the F-35 project, representing about $1.2 billion in direct and indirect economic impact to the area, according to Lockheed Martin.
Janicki, in a separate statement submitted to the Business Journal, said Meggitt’s F-35 role had been a “bright spot” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
California Hundreds
“In California, our business is just one of hundreds of local companies that work to provide parts or components for the F-35 program,” Janicki said.
Meggitt Defense Systems products are in use on virtually all U.S. military training ranges and on many military platforms, including the Abrams and Stryker programs, the F-22, the F-16 Falcon and the F/ A- 18 Hornet, according to the company’s website. The firm is a subsidiary of Meggitt PLC of the U.K.
