Third Lockheed Martin F-35B lands at NAS Patuxent River

Piloted by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35 Test Pilot Jeff Knowles, the third F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter landed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., today.

"Today, the third of our five STOVL test jets joined the F-35 fleet at the Test Center as our flight test program initiates the expansion of the F-35's flight-sciences envelope," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 Program Integration. "Our focus remains on fielding the F-35's tremendous capabilities to our warfighters, recapitalizing our nation's aging fighter fleet, and meeting our commitments to the F-35 partner nations."

The jet, known as BF-3, took off near Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth plant at 9:51 a.m. CST and arrived at NAS Patuxent River three hours and 10 minutes later. BF-3 joins two other F-35Bs at the Navy test site, and will be used mainly to evaluate vehicle systems and expand the aircraft's aerodynamic and structural-loads envelope. The airplane will also focus on weapons testing, and will carry and release most of the weapons the F-35B will use in combat. Two more F-35Bs will join the test operation in the near future. The latter airplanes will be the primary test assets for the F-35's integrated mission systems.

In addition to flight testing, the F-35 Program is using the Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS) for maintenance actions, spares tracking and technical data support. ALIS is part of the F-35's innovative sustainment architecture monitored by the F-35 Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment (ALGS) Operations Center in Fort Worth. The early deployment of the F-35 net-enabled logistics system to be used by all nine partner countries helps ensure the F-35's smooth transition to operational status, and is a key enabler for lower life cycle costs.