Wed, Dec 30, 2009
2009 is ending nicely if you happen to be involved in the Naval
Flight Test Program. The second Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II
short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter has arrived
at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.
U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph T. "O.D." Bachmann piloted the
aircraft nonstop from Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas, plant to
Patuxent River, successfully completing aerial refueling en route.
Bachmann departed at 1107 EST, Tuesday, and arrived in Patuxent
River at 1426 EST.
"Pax River is ready to begin the extensive four-year flight test
campaign to help field the future of Marine Corps and Navy
Aviation," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice
president and F-35 program general manager. "Over the next year, an
integrated government/industry test team will ramp up the flight
test at Pax River for the F-35B STOVL variant and F-35C carrier
variant, and at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for the F-35A
conventional takeoff and landing variant."
Like the first F-35B that arrived at Patuxent River in November,
this aircraft also is supported by the F-35 Autonomic Logistics
Information System (ALIS) and monitored by the F-35 Autonomics
Logistics Global Sustainment (ALGS) Operations Center in Fort
Worth. F-35 sustainment is based upon the principles of
Performance-Based Logistics (PBL), involving extensive partnering
agreements between government and industry. The F-35 team has
developed an advanced sustainment system capability with
designed-in sustainability that will reduce overall life-cycle
costs and ensure mission readiness.
The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining
advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor
information, network-enabled operations, advanced sustainment, and
lower operational and support costs. Lockheed Martin is developing
the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman
and BAE Systems. Two separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are
under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE
Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team F136.
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