Marine Corps test pilot Maj. C. R. Clift completed the first shipboard vertical landing at night for an F-35B on 14 August 2013. The landing occurred during developmental tests aboard the USS Wasp (LHD-1). This landing was a part of second session of shipboard testing on the Wasp called Development Testing II that began on 12 August. Squadron Leader Jim Schofield, a Royal Air Force test pilot became the first international pilot to conduct sea-based launch and landing in the F-35B during the testing.
