It is true that we are working on the JSF in the United States, but we are also working on it here. As for our Canadian content and the value of contracts signed by Canadian plants, it is important to understand that we designed and developed the systems. For example, the uplocks, which are latching devices for airplanes, were designed by engineers in Longueuil. So the intellectual property for these products belongs to us. We intend to build these systems in Canada. Actually, we plan to manufacture them in Quebec.
We work by centre of excellence. We have plants in a number of regions in Canada. We also have some in Texas. Each of these plants is a centre of excellence. They specialize in very specific products. Since we are the third largest in the world in the landing gear industry, we plan to manufacture the parts in Canada and Quebec.
However, the situation is very different when it comes to the framework. Mr. Beach spoke earlier about airplane wings. We manufacture the largest parts of the wing. We obtained these contracts before we even acquired a company in Texas, which happened in 2004. That company already had contracts for manufacturing huge pieces of framework. We are using this company now for the JSF. Based on the value of the contracts and considering that more than 3,000 airplanes will be built, we expect 2,500 jobs to be created and maintained over 20 years, so about 125 jobs a year. Right now, we are talking with Lockheed Martin and with partners in the program to double this number of jobs.
As I said earlier—
now is the time, because at this point, the program is still in a low rate of production. We are building components for around 30 airplanes per year as we speak. But we know the program will ramp up. At that point, this program will be for 200 aircraft a year. There's still time for people like us to join the program as a second source. If we wait until this program will ramp up to 160, 170, or 200 aircraft a year, it will be too late, because the selection of the second source is happening now. After that, it's going to be too late.