The Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35 fighter has completed the final 64 runs of Joint Simulation Environment (JSE) testing–known as “Runs for Score”–needed for a full-rate production decision, the F-35 Joint Program Office said on Sept. 29.
The requirement has been for the F-35 to go up against modern, fielded threats in those 64 JSE runs, which were to finish in September, 2020.
“F-35 Runs for Score in the JSE and initial trial validation were completed on September 21,” the F-35 program said. “Further data analysis and final adjudication of results are required before the final [DoD Directorate of Operational Test and Evaluation] report will be ready.”
F-35 JSE testing has been part of the fighter’s initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E), the successful completion of which is required for a Pentagon decision to authorize F-35 full-rate production. The F-35 program established JSE for F-35 in 2016 after the program decided to take over work on the simulation environment from Lockheed Martin, but delays in JSE testing have pushed back the F-35 full-rate production decision.