F-35 AF4's first flight.
The fourth conventional takeoff and landing variant, AF-3, completed its
first flight on 30 December 2010. Piloted by Lockheed Martin test pilot
Bill Gigliotti, AF-4 took off from NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas. AF-4 is
the tenth F-35 to fly and the third test jet to fly with the
next-generation avionics package that will populate all operational
F-35s. The successful flight was the final test mission of 2010 for the
Joint Strike Fighter program, which logged 410 flights for the year.
End of this January the Netherlands will issue its plans for (continued) defense cuts, err, "restructuring".
ReplyDeleteIt's supposed to give a clear answer to how many "F-16 successors" (the name JSF/F-35 will be conspicuously absent) will eventually be bought.
I'm told similar reports and plans will be published soon in other countries as well (I heard Italy).
Big F-35 month ahead.