F-35 Test Program Update

Photo by Layne Laughter

The F-35 Lightning II test team carried out 972 flights and completed 7,823 test points in 2011, 100 flights and nearly 1,200 test points more than originally planned. The totals include 474 flights and 3,600 test points for F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant; 333 flights and 2,636 test points for the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variant; and 165 flights and 1,587 test points for the F-35C carrier variant. The F-35B test team also executed 268 vertical landings, including seventy-two on the USS Wasp (LHD-1) at sea. The F-35 flight test program plan calls for the verification of 59,585 test points by 31 December 2016. Through 2011, 12,728 test points, or 21.4 percent of the requirement, have been accomplished.