LAI partners with Dutch aerospace manufacturer

LAI International, Inc., a strategic supplier of precision components and sub-assemblies for original equipment manufacturers, announced it has formed a manufacturing partnership with a Dutch aerospace manufacturer for F-35 fighter jet parts.

LAI was awarded a two-year deal in a partnership with Stork Fokker aerospace group to manufacture specialized flight control surface components for the Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 fighter jet for the Royal Navy. LAI made the announcement following its participation at the 2008 Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom. The contract has a multi-million-dollar potential over an estimated five years.

"LAI will collaborate with our partner in the Netherlands to provide the highly engineered precision components, coordinating a sophisticated series of manufacturing steps to provide ready-to-assembly parts for the aircraft," John Hartley, director of aerospace products for LAI, said.    LAI also has a multi-year contracts to manufacture a variety of highly engineered, precision-machined titanium, aluminum and inconel components for each of the of the advanced attack aircraft F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Jet--a conventional take-off and landing aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, a carrier variant for the U.S. Navy; and the STOVL aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps and the Royal Navy.