F/A-18 E/F机身蒙皮的基线设计采用了诺斯罗普在过去10年中通过之前项目的研发而开发的碳纤维/环氧树脂复合材料技术。一个集成的产品开发团队利用这一知识库，以可生产性为主要目标，概念化并生成一个显著节约成本和重量的设计。作为可生产性设计和制造工作的一部分，诺斯罗普承担了一个制造风险降低项目，其主要重点是代表性F/A的制造- 18 E/F帽子加固，复合机身蒙皮。

THE BASELINE DESIGN OF THE F/A-18 E/F FUSELAGE SKINS UTILIZES CARBON FIBER/EPOXY COMPOSITE TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPED AT NORTHROP OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON PREVIOUS PROJECTS. AN INTEGRATED PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TEAM USED THIS KNOWLEDGE BASE TO CONCEPTUALIZE AND PRODUCE A DESIGN OF SIGNIFICANT COST AND WEIGHT SAVINGS, WITH PRODUCIBILITY AS THE MAIN OBJECTIVE. AS PART OF THE EFFORT TO DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE FOR PRODUCIBILITY, NORTHROP UNDERTOOK A MANUFACTURING RISK REDUCTION PROJECT WITH THE PRIMARY FOCUS CENTERING AROUND THE FABRICATION OF A REPRESENTATIVE F/A-18 E/F HAT STIFFENED, COMPOSITE FUSELAGE SKIN.