Testing At Sea To Be Conducted Aboard The USS Wasp

The Lockheed Martin F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft completed its 500th vertical landing August 3. BF-1, the aircraft which reached the milestone, also accomplished the variant’s first vertical landing in March 2010 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD.

Next week, Sea Trials, known as Developmental Test 2 (DT-2) are scheduled to begin for the F-35B variant onboard the USS Wasp. DT-2 is the second of three planned tests aimed at defining and expanding the F-35B’s shipboard operating envelope for the U.S. Marine Corps.

The first shipboard testing phase was successfully completed in October 2011. The successful completion of the upcoming Sea Trials is key to declaring F-35 Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for the U.S. Marine Corps in 2015.

The F-35B is the variant of the Joint Strike Fighter for the U.S. Marine Corps, capable of short take-offs and vertical landings for use on amphibious ships or expeditionary airfields to provide air power to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. The F-35B will replace Marine AV-8B Harriers and F-18 Hornets and is undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River. The initial sea trials in 2011 were also conducted aboard the Wasp, which was fitted with specialized instrumentation to measure deck environmental effects.

(Image provided by Lockheed Martin)

FMI: www.lockheedmartin.com