Progress To Date:
F135 Production Engines Delivered: 37
F135 Powered Flights: 1567
F135 Flight Hours: 2429
Vertical Landings: 284
RECENT NEWS
FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 19, 2012 – Piloted by U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph Bachmann, BF-7 departs Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Rese rve Base at 2:07 p.m. CST on its 90 minute ferry flight to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. With the delivery of BF-7, a F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) jet, Eglin is now the home of the largest F-35 fleet in the Department of Defense (DoD). BF-7 is assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing’s Marine Fighter/Attack Training Squadron 501 with the host 33d Fighter Wing. BF-7 joins two other STOVL jets and six F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) jets for a total of nine Lightning IIs--more than any other DoD base. BF-7 will be used for pilot and maintainer training at the F-35 Integrated Training Center located at Eglin. (Lockheed Martin photo by Randy Crites)
The first night flight in the history of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Program was completed Wednesday at Edwards Air Fo rce Base, Calif. Piloted by Lockheed Martin Test Pilot Mark Ward, AF-6, an F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, launched at 5:05 p.m. PST and landed after sunset at 6:22 p.m. The mission consisted of a series of straight in approaches in twilight and darkness. The pilot also performed an evaluation of the F-35’s cockpit lighting which Ward called, “the best he’s ever seen.” The testing will clear the way for night refueling and formation testing later this year. (Lockheed Martin photos by Tom Reynolds and Darin Russell).
After a rough 2011, Lockheed Martin is touting success with its often-troubled F-35 fighter program.
The defense-aerospace giant said Thursday its F-35 flight test program completed “more test flights and test points” than in any previous year.
“The 2011 flight test plan called for the accumulation of 872 flights and 6,622 test points by Dec. 31,” Lockheed said in a statement. “For the year, the [test] program flew 972 flights and tallied 7,823 test points.”
On Wednesday evening, the company touted its delivery to the Marine Corps of the first two models of its variant of the F-35 fighter. More…
The Marine Corps welcomed its first F-35B aircraft, the Marine Corps variant of the F-35 Lightning II, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Jan. 11.
The F-35B, one of three variants of the Joint Strike Fighter, is a tactical fixed-wing aircraft that is to be the replacement for aging jets within the Marine Corps. 2d Marine Aircraft Wing’s F-35 training squadron, Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, is based at Eglin AFB and is the first Marine Corps squadron to receive F-35B aircraft.
“The STOVL capability of the F-35B will enable us to deploy with the Marine Air-Ground Task Force and ensure these fifth-generation capabilities are available when needed,” said Lt. Col. James B. Wellons, commanding officer of VMFAT-501. “Our mission is to conduct F-35B operations in coordination with our joint and coalition partners at Eglin Air Force Base in order to attain our annual pilot training requirement.”
The F-35B surpassed 250 vertical landings this year, including 72 vertical landings and short takeoffs on the USS Wasp in October. More…
Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program recorded another milestone in the development of the next generation combat aircraft Wednesday with the delivery of the first two production F-35B models, the short-takeoff and vertical-landing variant being developed for the Marine Corps and perhaps some foreign buyers.
The two aircraft, BF-6 (pictured) and BF-8, are assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing's Marine Fighter/Attack Training Squadron 501 at Eglin AFB, Fla and will be used for training the first Marine pilots. More…
Photo: Lockheed Martin
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Pratt & Whitney a $194,097,296 long-lead production contract for F135 engines to power the F-35 Lightning II. The low rate initial production (LRIP) contract covers long-lead materials for the sixth lot of F135 engines, and provides Pratt & Whitney the ability to start procuring long-lead items for production engines. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company. More...
