Advanced optical technology provider Luna Innovations (Roanoke, VA) has entered a $6.2 million deal with Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, MD), further extending a long-term relationship that has resulted in the development of new optical measurement products that will help to ensure the global fleet of F-35 aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, are ready for service.
Luna supplies various aerospace and defense manufacturers with products for next-generation aircraft, including its ODiSI and HYPERION fiber-optic sensing systems and sensors, optical backscatter reflectometer (OBR), and terahertz test and measurement systems for measuring the thickness of stealth coatings.
In 2018, Luna was recognized by Lockheed Martin as an Evolutionary Technology Supplier of the year, out of more than 1900 suppliers globally, acknowledging the company’s technologies for the support, testing, and manufacturing of the F-35 Lightning II program, one of Lockheed Martin’s largest aviation initiatives.
The F-35 Lightning II aircraft is in production with over 595 delivered to U.S. and international customers, and a total of over 900 expected to be delivered by 2022. The F-35 fleet has surpassed 345,000 cumulative flight hours with more than 1170 pilots and almost 10,000 maintainers having been trained.
The financial impact of this agreement is included in the 2020 financial guidance that Luna reaffirmed on its November 9, 2020 earnings call and on the December 3, 2020 acquisition of OptaSense.