Titanium’s properties of being strong and light weight yet resistant to corrosion make it the perfect choice for many applications – many golf lovers will have that favourite titanium head driver – die hard cyclists will have a titanium framed race bike that you can lift with a single finger. It is these traits that make the element so versatile in its applications, from medical implants to sporting equipment to use in aerospace and defence, and the reason why it was chosen for aerostructure components in the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) version of the Joint Strike Fighter.
Here at BAE Systems Australia, we manufacture complex parts for a range of defence projects. These are machined parts that will be used on platforms including jet fighters, submarines and decoy missiles. These parts range in size from small brackets that are only 25mm long – up to titanium aerostructure spars, which are over 3 metres.
Many parts have to be precisely accurate, and are checked down to 10 microns – or roughly the width of a human hair.
We have a long history of manufacturing in defence, with the Nulka active missile decoy which began in the 1990’s. Then, in 2006, we built on this capability by constructing Australia’s most advanced Titanium Machining facility to meet the demands of the Global F-35 JSF Programme.
This facility was modelled on our production plant in Samlesbury (UK) that was already manufacturing components for the F-35. Working together we successfully transferred knowledge, lessons learnt, production facility best practice, processes and standards, in a process designed to enable us to minimise as much risk as possible at the start of the project here in Australia.
We embedded Australian personnel in the UK production plant (from machine operators to project managers) to learn from the best in the industry. The team learnt how to machine highly complex shapes and fine tolerance features, which require the latest machining technology available today. Manufacturing times range from one hour to fifty hours per component.
We have continued to evolve and mature this knowledge with our workforce, drawing on global best practice from industry SMEs. This, combined with the hard work and ingenuity of our people, means that we continue to improve on the programs and provide this efficiency back into the global supply chain.
To date, we have produced more than 5,400 titanium parts on our five axis milling machines to be used on over 240 aircraft.
This experience has allowed us to proudly pass this knowledge onto local industry – we have shared this knowledge with RUAG Australia (treatments) and Axiom (machining), helping South Australian industry transition out of automotive into complex defence and aerospace work.
The final challenge for the JSF Vertical Tail project is to transition to full rate production. In 2016, we produced 1,500 titanium parts for the F-35 program, at peak production, starting in 2019, 3,600 parts per year will be required. This transition is well underway, and has seen the installation of several world-class milling machines and hiring of experienced machinists.
We are proud to contribute to our community and prove on the world stage that Australians are capable of delivering aerostructure components to global standards, on cost and time, positioning us well for future work.
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