ABOVE: LCDR Christopher Tabert in CF-05 for one of the last SDD tests with a 2,000lb external weapons catapult launch on March 19, 2018. US
Navy/Arnel Parker98
F-35 LIGHTNING II Te s t review
environments. “Freezing it down to 40
below [zero, Fahrenheit] and baking it
up to 120 degrees, firing ice at it through
these one-of-a kind ice-maker jet rockets,
and all the while hovering an F-35 inside a
hangar with the doors closed,” said Flynn
of the climactic tests. “We have crushed
all the preconceived notions about what
this jet is capable of. It is survivable and
lethal above any of our expectations.”
The Joint Program Office (JPO) has
navigated the F-35 through tough times
to the current situation. It has improved25 Technical.jpg
the overall grasp of development,
production and sustainment costs, and
has weathered some high-profile technical
problems and embarrassment, notably
the engine fire that prevented aircraft
from participating in British airshows in- There have also been frustrations
with the Autonomic Logistics Information
System (ALIS) that is designed to identify,
track and support ‘fixes’ for engineering
issues. The latest problem surrounds
corrosion in fastener holes, with a dispute
around who should pay for the repairs.
ABOVE: Aircraft CF-02 res an AIM-9X inverted during a test ight from NAS Patuxent River,
Maryland. Lockheed Martin/Dane Wiedmann RIGHT: An F-35A reveals its radar presence brie y to
unleash an AIM-120 AMRAAM. Lockheed Martin RIGHT BELOW: SDD testing has included the
GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). Lockheed Martin/Chad Bellay BELOW: BF-01 piloted by Maj
John Dirk res the F-35B gun pod for the rst time airborne on February 21, 2017. Lockheed
Martin/Dane WiedmannAlthough SDD flight-testing has ended,
the life of the programme means that
development test will continue under the
follow-on, incremental, modernisation efforts
dubbed Continuous Capability Development
and Delivery (C2D2) to deliver Block 4 and
subsequent upgrade packages. With the door
now open for IOT&E, and a Milestone C full-
rate production decision awaiting, the F-35
programme appears well placed, and with
over 300 aircraft now delivered, it is well on
the way to becoming one of the most
successful fighter aircraft ever built. F-35