Page 16 - Aerotech News and Review Dec. 16 2016

Air Force Plant 42 – Palmdale, Calif.
by Diane Betzler
staff writer
Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., has has been around for a long time. At its birth the plant was owned and operated by the U.S. Army, it was used by the Army and the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. The facility became United States Air Force Plant 42 in the early 1950s and has been serving the Air Force and its contractors ever since.
The facility has gone through many chang- es throughout the years but its undertaking remains the same, “We’re here to provide operational support to our mission partners,” explains John Esch, director of Operating Lo- cation for AF Plant 42.
The plant is a government facility owned and primarily funded by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, “ ... but its processes and people belong to the 412th Test Wing,” Esch makes clear.
The now all civilian-run facility provides operating support of the plant grounds and its airfield for its mission partners Boeing, Lock- heed Martin, Northrop Grumman and the Na- tional Aeronautics and Space Administration.
“We lend our support to help them with their mission and their goals,” Esch of- fered. He said the business end, like leases and payment matters are handled by Wright- Patterson. If additional companies wanted to move their operations to the Plant, they would have to go through Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.
Supporting its mission partners is no easy task. Esch explains that AF Plant 42 is made up of 6,600 square acres and says that takes a lot of communication.
“We work as a team here with our mission partners and with local municipalities in- cluding the Los Angeles County Fire Depart- ment, the Highway Patrol and the Sheriff’s Department. We have formal and informal communication to help provide the support needed for our partners’ success,” he said.
While talking about mission accomplish- ments Esch explained the plant’s operations were run by contractors for nearly 60 years. He said by 2010 it went from a contractor to a government position.
“This last year AF Plant 42 has transi- tioned to a government agency, which is much different than a contract operation,” he said.
Esch said his goal for 2017 is to position the plant in a way that it has a lot of agility to respond to whatever their mission partners need and to do that efficiently and in a cost effective way.
“This is a yearly $4 billion-plus enterprise out here,” Esch said. He said Plant 42 is just shy of a billion dollars a year in local impact.
Esch considers AF Plant 42 as a unique operation because, he says, there are only four industrial complexes left that are owned by the Air Force.
“There used to be hundreds, this particular one is the only one that hosts three different defense contractors and has its own airfield,” he proudly states.
Esch says AF Plant 42 has a rich history in the Antelope Valley of supporting aviation de- velopment, “If you look at all the major leaps in aircraft design and spacecraft design, it’s a rich history and such a rich legacy to be so proud of,” he said. “It’s a legacy that continues today.”
Esch says he wants everyone in the Ante-
Air Force photograph by Kenji Thuloweit
John Esch addresses an audience filled with U.S. Air Force Plant 42 employees during a ceremony.
lope Valley to be proud of what goes on here, because, he says, the people of the AV are all a part of it one way or another.
“This is the best job I ever had,” said the man with a diverse background a mile long.
“You get to see aviation history, it’s a neat, cool profession to be in, he says and urges to- day’s young folks to pursue a higher education and check out career opportunities available to them at Plant 42.
Like other military facilities, AF Plant 42 has been associated with a set of its own ru- mors, and although Esch admits he has been questioned on occasion about aliens and if they are working reversed engineering at the local government Plant, the director of Operating Location for AF Plant 42 remains noncom- mittal.
“I can’t confirm or deny the existence of extraterrestrial beings,” he said.
Air Force Plant 42 tenants
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is an official alias for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects.
The Skunk Works is located at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., and is responsible for a number of fa- mous aircraft designs, including the U-2, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, Lock- heed Martin F-22 Raptor and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, which will be used in the air forces of several countries.
According to Lockheed Martin, “The Skunk Works of today is focused on the critical aircraft for tomorrow. Ad- vanced technology solutions for manned and unmanned systems draw on our world-class capabilities in concep- tual design, systems engineering and integration, complex project management, software development and rapid pro- totyping.
“These core capabilities tie to the foundation of the Skunk Works where founder Kelly Johnson’s mantra, ‘quick, quiet and quality,’ guides each and every project from concept to flight.”
As the Skunk Works look to the future, “we see a global landscape that is rapidly evolving. By focusing on our core capabilities, we will continue innovating to provide our customers with cutting technology in the following areas: air dominance, advanced manufacturing, high speed, air mobility, open system architecture and persistent intelli- gence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Northrop Grumman
The Northrop Grumman facility at Air Force Plant 42 has a long history – developing, designing and building the U.S. Air Force’s B-2 bomber as well as developing, designing and building the Global Hawk UAV. Addition- ally, the facility was responsible for the YF-23 – the test
aircraft that lost out to Lockheed Martin’s YF-22 in the U.S. Air Force’s fourth generation fighter competition.
Currently, among other ongoing projects including B-2 maintenance and upgrades, Northrop Grumman is assem- bling the center fuselage for the F-35 Lightning II, the most advanced fighter jet in the world.
In August 2016, Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale facility received the prestigious James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Award from the Defense Security Ser- vices. More than 13,000 defense contractors were eligible and only 42 received the Cogswell Award.
To be considered for the Cogswell Award, a facility must have two consecutive superior industrial security review ratings. Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale Aircraft Integration Center of Excellence (PAI CoE) received three consecutive ratings of “Superior” in the last three years. “The Palmdale facility has an extraordinary secu- rity program that represents Northrop Grumman’s values of performance and excellence,” said “Andy Reynolds, vice president, global manufacturing and Palmdale site manager, Northrop Grumman. “I am extremely proud of our security team in working as a trusted partner to our customers and peers, both internally and externally to re- ceive the Cogswell Award.”
At the end of 2015, the U.S. Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $60 billion contract to produce as many as 100 long-range stealth bombers – the B-21 – over the next decade.
And in a boost for Palmdale and the Antelope Valley, it is expected that the aircraft will be built at Northrop’s Plant 42 facility creating the potential for up to 6,500 new jobs.
Boeing
While not as large a presence as it once had when the space shuttles were built, maintained and modified at Plant 42, Boeing Defense, Space & Security maintains a presence at both Plant 42 and at Edwards Air Force Base.
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Aerotech News and Review
December 16, 2016
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