Goodrich is the exclusive landing gear system supplier and integrator for Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.

Under the three-year agreement, Goodrich and Fokker will work together to design, qualify and produce prototype polymer composite drag braces to be incorporated into the main landing gear for F-35 conventional take-off/landing (CTOL) and short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) variants.

Fokker’s role will encompass detailed component design and qualification, which will be conducted by Fokker Landing Gear, providing work to a minimum of 20 specialists in Helmond, the Netherlands, and at the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) in Marknesse, the Netherlands. Goodrich will perform system-level design and integration in its Cleveland, Ohio, and Ft. Worth, Texas, USA, landing gear facilities.

Fokker reports that, compared to the metallic brace equivalent, using composite materials will result in reduced weight and lower maintenance costs over the life of the F-35.

Fokker Landing Gear has been developing technologies for the application of thick-walled composites in flight critical primary structural components for landing gears for over 15 years.

Fokker Landing Gear is a business unit of Fokker Aerospace.