DefenceTalkThe F-35 Lightning II program made aviation history June 12 as Royal Air Force (RAF) Test Pilot Squadron Leader Andy Edgell released two inert 500-pound dual mode Paveway IV precision-guided bombs from aircraft BF-03 over the Atlantic Test Ranges. The inaugural weapons separation test of the Paveway IV conducted by the F-35 Lightning II Patuxent […]https://www.defencetalk.com/f-35b-aces-first-release-of-a-uk-paveway-iv-bomb-64578/

DefenceTalkThe Marine Corps F-35B operational test (OT-1) successfully concluded aboard a U.S. Navy amphibious ship, USS Wasp (LHD-1), on May 29, 2015. Setting off from Norfolk, Virginia on May 18, USS Wasp cut an arc between 50 and 100 miles off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, as Marine Corps pilots safely conducted 100 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/marine-corps-proves-f-35bs-capability-at-sea-64424/

DefenceTalkMarines and sailors have worked together since May 18 to conduct Operational Testing 1, the assessment of the integration of the F-35B Lightning II, at sea, aboard USS Wasp (LHD-1). Throughout OT-1, the aircraft and personnel involved have been challenged with a wide variety of flight and deck operations, allowing the gathering of data which […]https://www.defencetalk.com/marines-make-progress-with-f-35b-during-ot-1-64354/

DefenceTalkSix U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II jet aircraft arrived Monday evening aboard the USS WASP off the coast of the United States’ Eastern Seaboard to mark the beginning of the first shipboard phase of the F-35B Operational Test (OT-1). The at-sea period will continue aboard USS WASP for the next two weeks, with fleet […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-marine-corps-begins-f-35b-operational-trials-64249/

DefenceTalkA current and qualified Forward Air Controller (FAC) from the United Kingdom, using the Rockwell Collins FireStorm Integrated Targeting System, was the first to successfully guide an F-35 Lightning II aircraft digitally using a complete air strike mission thread in both a ground test and live flight. The flight test was conducted at Edwards Air […]https://www.defencetalk.com/rockwell-firestorm-targeting-system-certified-for-use-with-f-35-63951/

DefenceTalkIsrael is to purchase 14 F-35 stealth fighters from US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin at a cost of around $110 million each, the defence ministry said Sunday. “The defence ministry will purchase an additional 14 F-35s for around $3 billion, each plane costing an average of $110 million,” a ministry statement said. The $2.82 billion […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-to-buy-14-f-35-fighter-jets-from-us-63280/

DefenceTalkIn a bid to keep the US military’s technological edge, President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for 2016 calls for an increase in defense spending to pay for high-tech weapons and training. The $585 billion request for the Pentagon would devote $107.7 billion to big-ticket weapons — an increase of $14.1 billion over the previous budget. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-asks-for-more-funds-for-high-tech-weapons-62552/

DefenceTalkIt’s called the death spiral, and America’s newest warplane, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is in danger of falling into it before the plane has even gone . Defining the Future. The F-35 program has taken a major step toward validating the aircraft’s dominating mission systems package. During a 3.6-hour flight Au.https://www.defencetalk.com/the-f-35-lightning-ii-fighter-jet-hd-62357/

DefenceTalkThe Navy made aviation history Nov. 3 as an F-35C Lightning II carrier variant Joint Strike Fighter conducted its first arrested landing aboard the aircraft . US Navy’s $1 Trillion F-35 Jet Makes Historic Landing On USS Nimitz The Navy made aviation history Nov. 3 as an F-35C Lightning II carrier variant Joint Stri. Sailors […]https://www.defencetalk.com/the-1-trillion-jet-%e2%80%a2-f-35-joint-strike-fighter-%e2%80%a2-aircraft-carrier-flight-deck-ops-62128/

DefenceTalkThe previous F-35 Flight Test Update concluded with F-35A test aircraft AF-3 completing 500 flight hours on 18 March 2013, making AF-3 the second mission systems test Lightning II to reach this milestone. This fourteenth installment in the series of F-35 flight testing reviews presents a large variety of additional milestones for the F-35 test […]https://www.defencetalk.com/f-35-lightning-ii-flight-test-update-14-62062/