Lockheed Martin has awarded a $1.6 million contract to establish a regional warehouse for the upkeep of the F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft at Williamtown.
The contract has been awarded to BAE Systems Australia to establish the warehouse that will store replenishment spares for F-35 operations in Australia and in the Indo-Pacific.
The warehouse will be “co-located” on the Williamtown RAAF Base and create about 20 immediate jobs and 500 long-term F-35 sustainment jobs in the future.
Lockheed Martin said the new warehouse further secures the Hunter region as a nationally important aerospace hub.
Australia expects to have 72 F-35 aircraft operational by the end of this year housed in the Northern Territory and here in the Hunter.