The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program, of which Turkey is a part, has launched the most comprehensive flight test program in military aviation history with the F-35 Lightning II.
A conventional take-off and landing model of the F-35 Lightening II JSF made its 40-minute test flight over Lockheed’s Fort Worth facility in Texas on Friday.
Jon S. Beesley, chief test pilot for the Joint Strike Fighter, said the plane handled marvelously, performed flawlessly and flew better than the simulator. He performed a series of maneuvers at 15,000 feet to test the aircraft handling and the operation of the engine and the subsystems of the plane, and was escorted by two F-16s and an F/A-18 that provided safety and took pictures.
The radar-evading F-35 is described as a ‘supersonic, multi-role and fifth-generation strike fighter’ designed to replace many jet fighters, including the A V-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 Hornet, the British Harrier GR 7 and Sea Harrier.
Its Pratt & Whittney F-135 turbine engine is the most powerful ever used in a jet fighter, producing 40,000 pounds of thrust, and it easily made a climb to 15,000 feet.
President of Lockheed Martin Ralph Martin said, “The first flight of the F-35 Lightning II is an historic moment because for the first time ever we are seeing the dawn of an aircraft with all the fifth generation attributes – including advanced stealth, fighter agility, sensor fusion and greatly improved supportability – combined in an affordable package. The F-35 will be the most advanced and most capable multi-role fighter on the international market for many, many years to come.”
The F-35 JSF Lightening II project is co-partnered and co-financed by the United States, Italy, Holland, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway.
By Mustafa Gun, Istanbul , Zaman Daily News, LINK
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