US Navy test pilot Cmdr. Tony Wilson carried out the first F-35B buddy tanking with a hose-and-drogue pod-equipped F/A-18 Hornet on 4 August 2015. The mission, carried out over the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division test range near NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, was Flight 316 in F-35B LIghtning II test aircraft BF-4. The F/A-18F is assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) also based at Pax River.
