Air Force Plant 4

Air Force Plant 4 is a government-owned, contractor-operated aerospace facility in Fort Worth, Texas, currently owned by the U.S. Air Force and operated by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. It is home of the F-16 and F-35 fighter aircraft. Military aircraft have been manufactured here since 1942.

Plant 4 is adjacent to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, formerly Carswell Air Force Base.

History

Originally operated by Consolidated Aircraft, Plant 4 became operational in 1942 for the assembly of the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. Over 3,000 B-24 aircraft were constructed along with 124 of the longer range B-32 Dominator.

From August 1942, development of the B-36 was moved to the plant. It flew first in 1946, becoming the world's first intercontinental bomber. 385 of these were ultimately built. Consolidated Aircraft became Convair, following a merger in 1943. Convair was itself acquired by General Dynamics in 1953. The company's proposal for the Tactical Fighter Experimental project (TFX) was accepted in 1962, with the fighter seeing production as the General Dynamics F-111. Plant 4 built 562 of the aircraft by the time production ended, in 1976. When General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing interests to Lockheed Martin it included the operation of Plant 4, which eventually would house Lockheed Martin Aeronautics' divisional headquarters.

Pollution

Air force Plant 44 has been listed as a Superfund site since 1990. It was discovered a significant TCE plume had contaminated local soil and groundwater. Remediation efforts are still underway.