WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The “B” version of the F-35 jet combines essential “lethal fighter characteristics,” according to Lockheed Martin.
“[S]ervice members from the United Kingdom are working alongside their US Navy and Marine Corps counterparts to assess the integration of the F-35B into amphibious military operations,” the release stated.
The lethal fighter characteristics include supersonic speed, radar-evading stealth technology and short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities.
Sixteen Royal Navy and Royal Air Force operational assessors, ship integration team members, aircraft technicians and maintenance crews, will conduct tests of the F-35B from a US aircraft carrier over the next two weeks, the release explained.
The UK assessors will test F-35B night flight operations, weapons loading and interoperability of aircraft and ship systems, among other capabilities, the release added.
UK pilots will begin operating the F-35B from home bases in England starting in 2018, according to the release, and are on track to fly from Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers in 2020.
In February 2015, UK engineers and pilots stood up their first F-35 squadron at Edwards Air Force Base in California, where they fly and maintain two F-35B jets independently from their US colleagues, the release said.
The F-35’s development has been beset by delays, cost overruns and technical problems. Critics of the program in the US Congress have argued that the jets are unnecessary and a waste of money.
