The Marine Corps’ variant of the Joint Strike Fighter successfully completed its first short take-off at sea yesterday during two weeks of testing aboard the USS Wasp (LHD 1).
The F-35B test aircraft took off from the Wasp’s flight deck as part of a test to demonstrate its short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capability, Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Joint Strike Fighter in the Pentagon’s Joint Program Office (JPO), said.
The tests are designed to collect data on the F-35B Lightning II’s ability to perform sea-based short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL), and to determine how the plane integrates with the ship’s landing systems and deck and hanger operations, JPO said. Lockheed Martin [LMT] is the prime contractor for the F-35s.
“Signs of dependable performance are emerging across broad aspects of the development program,” Vice Adm. David Venlet, the F-35 program executive officer, said after Monday’s vertical landing.
“Every time an aircraft is first tested at sea we learn a great deal and the data collected from this event will inform us about the further development work necessary to successfully integrate the F-35B on large-deck amphibious ships,” he said, adding the testing was off to a “great start.”
The testing is the first of three phases in the F-35 development program, which has been plagued by cost overruns and delays. The Marine Corps variant of the plane has experienced more difficulties than the Air Force or Navy versions because of challenges associated with STOVL.
The troubled F-35B program was placed on two-year probation earlier this year by then-defense secretary Robert Gates, heightening the risk of cancellation.
The Marine Corps has been optimistic the F-35B program is getting back on track and will be eligible to have the probation status lifted on schedule. The F-35B is slated to replace the Marine fleet of AV-8B Harriers and F-18 Hornets.
Lt. Gen. Terry Robling, the Marine Corps chief of aviation, told a Navy League-hosted breakfast last week he was confident the aircraft would perform well during this month’s sea trials, and that he expected 80 percent of the major challenges the plane is facing will be resolved by the end of 2011 (Defense Daily Sept. 30).
“I am very confident that the sea trials for the aircraft will show it capable of flying on and off the L-class ships with not a lot of major problems,” he said.
Still, Robling said the timeframe for achieving initial operational capability (IOC) has likely slipped from 2014 to 2015 after encountering a three-year delay. “It’s gone from 2012 to probably 2014, and my guess now it’ll probably be somewhere in the 2015 timeframe,” Robling said.
The Marine Corps plans to get the first training aircraft in November at Eglin AFB, Fla. Training, which had been set for March 2012, will likely be pushed back a few months, Robling said.