First of 5,000 F135 nozzles has rolled out of KMWE’s Eindhoven factories – Innovation Origins

Two years after signing the agreement with airplane builder Pratt & Whitney, KMWE Aero Engine has submitted the first part for the nozzle of the F135. It is the first of at least 5,000 parts of this type that will be delivered to P&W in the next five years. The exhaust nozzle components are complex sheet metal parts that have to undergo a large number of machining steps.

“This first delivery is a great milestone after an intensive process between KMWE Aero Engine and Pratt & Whitney”, KMWE says in a statement. KMWE Group is a supplier and partner to the High Tech Equipment Industry and has been a supplier to the aerospace industry for over 60 years already. The Group has over 550 employees in its facilities worldwide, with its Head Office in Brainport Industries Campus in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp. company, has granted KMWE the contract to manufacture F135 engine Nozzle fabrications in 2018. The deal is part of a 10-year agreement. The F135 engine is the propulsion system for the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II aircraft, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter.

As one of the original nine partner nations for the F-35, the Netherlands is a key contributor to the development, production, and sustainment of the F-35 program.