Aircraft
Navy Builds Up to F-35C IOT&E; First Turkish F-35 Pilot Flies
Navy F-35Cs have operated as part of a regular air wing for the first time as the aircraft approaches a crucial operational test and evaluation milestone
F-35Cs undertake routine carrier operations aboard USS Abraham Lincoln alongside F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets. (photo: U.S. Navy)
F-35Cs undertake routine carrier operations aboard USS Abraham Lincoln alongside F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets. (photo: U.S. Navy)

As a prelude to the official IOT&E (initial operational test and evaluation) for the U.S. Navy’s Lockheed Martin F-35C, the service has undertaken a pre-IOT&E trial called Operational Test-I (OT-I). A deployment of six F-35Cs joined Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW-7) aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln for the type’s first operations as part of a regular air wing.

Lincoln is fresh out of a four-year RCOH (refueling and complex overhaul) and had embarked CVW-7 to conduct routine cyclic operations as part of a work-up for both ship and the full air wing. During OT-I, one of the wing’s Super Hornet squadrons returned to shore to make room for the F-35Cs so that they could take part in day-to-day carrier operations, the type having only previously operated at sea under test conditions.

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