Thirteen British companies and the U.K. Minister of Defence Equipment, Support and Technology participated in a Lockheed Martin Industry Recognition Event during the DSEI tradeshow today.

Over the next 40 years, British industry will continue to play a vital role in the F-35's global production, follow-on development and sustainment, bringing strong economic benefits to the kingdom.

"The F-35 is the largest defence programme in the world," said U.K. Minister of Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Philip Dunne.

"The U.K.'s involvement will generate billions of pounds and tens of thousands of jobs for the British economy for decades to come, with over 500 suppliers across the U.K. already contributing to the production of the F-35.

Backed by this government's strategic vision for U.K. aerospace, the F-35 programme allows us to continue to build on the strengths of our nations avionics, systems and sensors industry."

Steve O'Bryan, vice president, F-35 Business Development, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics added, "Our suppliers here in the U.K. are essential to the success of this program.

Together, they will produce 15 percent of each one of the more than 3,100 F-35s planned for the global fleet. We are leveraging their proud legacy of innovation in aerospace to deliver this unprecedented capability to the warfighter."

The following British companies were recognized at today's event:
+ BAE Systems designed and manufactures the aft fuselage, horizontal tails and vertical tails for the F-35.

+ Cobham designed and manufactures the refueling probe for the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) and the F-35C carrier variant (CV).

+ EDM produces components for the weapons load trainer system and the ejection seat maintenance trainer for the F-35.

+ GE Aviation produces the electrical power management system, the remote input/output unit, standby flight display, and the backshop battery charger for the F-35.

+ Honeywell developed and produces the F-35's power thermal management system. Additionally, Honeywell is a provider of the F-35's life support system.

+ Martin-Baker designed and manufactures the F-35 ejection seat.

+ MBDA produces the Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM), which can be installed within the weapons bay and on external wing stations of the aircraft. MBDA is also working with Lockheed Martin and the U.K. Ministry of Defence to integrate the Meteor missile into a future upgrade of the U.K.'s F-35 fleet.

+ RE Thompson produces casings for batteries onboard the F-35.

+ Rolls-Royce provides the lift system for the F-35B STOVL, which consists of the lift fan, the three-bearing swivel module, the roll post modules and the lift fan vane box. These components are essential for STOVL operations.

+ Selex ES Ltd designed and builds the lasers that are the key component for the Electro Optical Targeting System.

+ Survitec Group provides all pilot flight equipment for every F-35 pilot around the world.

+ Ultra Electronics produces suspension release equipment for the F-35.

+ UTC Aerospace Systems produces the weapons bay door drive system, utilities actuation and uplock components for the F-35.

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least ten other countries.