F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Gaining Momentum

Flight testing of the F-35 joint strike fighter finally seems to be gaining momentum as Lockheed Martin and the Defense Department try to show that development of the next-generation combat jet is finally on track.

Lockheed flew the ninth of the initial 13 flight-testing jets recently, counting the original prototype, which has already been retired.

By week's end, the test program had completed 146 flights this year compared with the 128 planned, a pace that, if, sustained, would enable the full-year goal of 394 flights to be met or exceeded.

Another measure of progress is the number of specific tests (test points) achieved: 1,438 completed compared with 1,255 planned.

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