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| Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti flew F-35B BF-12 (Navy Bureau Number 168308), on its inaugural flight on 30 March 2012 from NAS Fort Worth JRB. The aircraft will be assigned to VMFAT-501 at Eglin AFB, Florida. |
Critics can whine.
Cry.
Stomp their feet.
Twist facts to fit a narrative...but they can't keep production from ramping up!
First flight of BF-12.
If you're paying attention you'll note that the STOVL version is apparently receiving most of these production slots.
Can you say training to start this year?
Can you say IOC in 2013?
Can you say winning?
Oh and if you disagree fine. D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.?
I hope, but am not sure of a 2013 slot for IOC. Blk 2B will just be getting airborne (whether CATBIRD or F-35B, I am not sure) in Sept of 2012. It has to finish testing and then go through a mini ITO&E before the Marines say GO!
ReplyDeleteAccording to the FY2013 budget docs, Blk2B does not get certified till 2014/15. This is not to say that if something rears its head that the F-35B (or A/C) will not go to war prior to IOC, just that as the plans go now, IOC is a few years off.
Hey Solomon, did you notice what is curiously absent from the Ares blog? ROFL! I imagine B.S. is somewhere with eyes tightly shut and fingers in his ears crying, "no, no, no".
ReplyDeleteI just cam back from an airshow where I spoke with a Lieutenant
ReplyDeleteCommander from VFA-142 (they had #301 and #302 at the air show as static displays).
One thing that he said (unprompted) was that he cannot wait to fly the F-35.
I believe they are close to having the 50th (counting AA-1) airframe in the air pretty soon. I base that on the fact that an LRIP is about 3 years long, Northrop delivered the 50th center fuselage in July 2011 and it takes about a year of the three year period to bring all the parts together. An educated guess is expect the 50th airframe delivery this fall, but first flight around July/August
ReplyDeleteThrough FY2010 orders (LRIP4) there are 25 F-35As and 33 F-35Bs in production. According to the FY2013 docs, by the end of the year there should be 48 "Production" F-35s delivered. Add the SDD planes and this pushes the total delivered F-35s above 60 by Dec 2012.
ReplyDelete