Aircraft
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program Proceeds Apace
All systems go! That was the message from the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter briefing at the Paris Air Show last week.

All systems go! That was the message from the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter briefing at the Paris Air Show last week. The first test flights have already provided good validation of some of the aircraft’s unique features. The eight international partners are all still onboard, all having signed up for the production sustainment and flight development (PSFD) phase over last winter.

There are now 12 development aircraft in fabrication, said Brigadier General C.R. Davis, U. S. Air Force, who is the F-35 program executive officer. A Boeing 737 converted to act as a co-operative avionics test bed (CATB) has completed airworthiness flights, and should soon start proper test flights. The Pratt & Whitney F135 powerplant has amassed more than 7,000 flight test hours.

Loading…