Navy launches first local F-35C sortie

Navy launches first local F-35C sortie

8/16/2013 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Sailors from U.S. Navy F-35 Strike Fighter Squadron-101 made history completing the first local flight in the F-35C Lightning II carrier variant Aug. 14...The F-35C, piloted by Lt. Cdr. Christopher Tabert, took off from Eglin shortly after 9 a.m. for about an hour flight...Satisfied with the maintenance verification sortie, Tabert stated "the flight went great, the weather was gorgeous, the jet performed well, we couldn't have asked for anything better."

The Navy's first F-35 pilot training course here concluded in January, and the second course began June 4. Currently, there are seven Navy pilots training at the F-35 Integrated Training Center located at Eglin's 33rd Fighter Wing. The goal is to have four or five pilots qualified in the F-35C by the end of 2013, according to Enfield.

Exciting news for the Navy and Lockheed Martin.

I'm sure Zaphod has some news on this!

F35C US Navy

reply to post by Cosmic911


It's been a busy week for the F-35 program. They also completed the first vertical landing on the USS Wasp at night with the B model. It makes for a great picture through the night lens too, and gives you a really good idea why they had to redo the deck coating to make it stronger.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Thanks for chiming in! The Navy's been busy. That's great. It's awesome to see some positive news on the program.

The video clip is wild! Thanks

reply to post by Cosmic911


The biggest news is that LM is working to bring the costs down to under $100M an airframe in the latest LRIP negotiations.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Cosmic911

 

The biggest news is that LM is working to bring the costs down to under $100M an airframe in the latest LRIP negotiations.

Damn, kid! lol. Wasn't the F35 supposed to be a cheaper aircraft than the F22?

reply to post by Cosmic911


I believe starting in LRIP 4 or 5 the F-35 per unit cost (minus engines) was cheaper, or almost the same price as the F-22. LRIP 7 will be 8% lower than 5.

In January, the A ran $130M per unit, and the B was at $160M per unit. If the full production run occurs, they should drop to around $70M per unit. In 2011, the last 60 F-22s ran $137M per unit.