Thirteen Additional Jets To Be On The Base By Year's End

The first of 14 F-35 Block 2A Joint Strike Fighters has arrived at Eglin Air Force Base in northwest Florida. The airplane joins the nine first-generation JSFs already based at Eglin.

The Air Force says that the Block 2 aircraft include software and design improvements over the Block 1 airplanes. 58th Fighter Squadron commander Lt. Col. Lee Kloos told the Northwest Florida Daily News that the airplanes will be the first to incorporate a distributed aperture system ... six infrared sensors that allow the pilot to have a complete spherical view around the aircraft in both day and night conditions. The F-35 Block 2 is the first Air Force aircraft to incorporate such a system, Kloos said.

The Block 2 jet is still limited to daylight operations, and may not perform aerobatics or formation takeoffs and landings. It is also restricted from flying in certain weather conditions. Additional upgrades "already in the pipeline" will add the airplane's capabilities.

Kloos told the paper that the plane should be ready for its first sortie in two to three weeks, with a small group of instructor pilots first in line to fly the jet.

The Navy is expecting that two Block 2-capable Joint Strike Fighters should be delivered to its contingent at Eglin by the end of May.

FMI: www.af.mil