FORT WORTH, Texas — Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, and visited Lockheed Martin on Feb. 10, with Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), the CNO’s Public Affairs Office said in a release.
Gilday and Granger toured facilities and received updates about F-35C Lightning II advancements and capabilities, joint all-domain operations, anti-surface warfare and weapon technology.
“The work that we’re doing here in Fort Worth in partnership with Lockheed Martin is delivering cutting edge capabilities for the Navy now and into the future,” said Gilday. “These advanced capabilities will ensure the U.S. Navy will maintain our warfighting advantage against increasingly competitive adversaries and ensure tomorrow’s Sailors will have what they need to win the fight.”
The F-35C is an aircraft that redefines the multirole fighter. It is a fifth-generation aircraft that integrates advanced stealth technology that provides unprecedented situational awareness to the pilot, as well as lethality and survivability. Major advances in network enabled mission systems, reliability and interoperability make this platform powerful and effective.
“Today’s visit from Admiral Gilday highlights the role played by Texas, and North Texas in particular, at the forefront of our nation’s strong national defense,” Granger said. Our visit gave us greater insight on the incredible capabilities of the F-35 and the advancements being made to ensure we have the best fighter fleet in the world. I will always remain the F-35 program’s staunchest advocate.”
The aircraft, satellites, ships and ground vehicles Navy forces operate have the ability to collect information from air, sea, space, land and cyber, but processing and analyzing that amount of data can be a difficult task, Gilday added.
Gilday explained the industrial base plays a key role in maintaining the current fleet as well as developing and building platforms and capabilities for the future fight. “We will seek opportunities to accelerate the development and fielding of needed capabilities ahead of our rivals,” he said.
Playing a large role in joint all-domain operations, the F-35C fighter brings increased situational awareness, information sharing and connectivity to the naval force, as well as our allies and partners.
This visit marked CNO’s second trip to Fort Worth.
