First Internationally Built F-35B Unveiled

Our Italian partners achieved another major milestone Friday with the roll out of the first internationally assembled F-35B. During a ceremony held at the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility in Cameri, Italy, the world was introduced to the first Italian F-35B, known as BL-1.

“Italy is a valued F-35 program partner achieving many F-35 ‘firsts’ with its program and is a critical North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air component force, providing advanced airpower for the alliance for the coming decades,” said Lockheed Martin Vice President, F-35 Program Management, Doug Wilhelm during the ceremony. “Italian industry participated in the design of the F-35 and Italian industry-made components fly on every production F-35 built to date.”

Major sub-assembly of the aircraft began at the FACO in the third quarter of 2015. BL-1’s first flight is anticipated for late August, with delivery expected in November to Italy. In addition, the team has delivered seven F-35As from the Italian FACO to date. Italy’s program of record calls for 30 F-35Bs and 60 F-35As built at Cameri, along with 29 F-35As for the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). Congratulations to the Italian FACO team on this key milestone for the program. I look forward to seeing the first Italian F-35B vertical landing.

USAF F-35As Heading to Paris for 2017’s Largest Airshow In more exciting European news for our largest customer, U.S. Air Force F-35As will make yet another in-country debut this summer. The service announced its participation in the Paris Air Show June 19-25. Paris is the largest commercial/military airshow of 2017, and its appearance there is significant for the program. "The F-35A strengthens partnerships and improves regional stability," said CSAF Gen. David Goldfein. "We welcome the opportunity to further demonstrate the revolutionary capabilities of this aircraft." I look forward to seeing the F-35A once again wow the crowds expected to exceed 250,000 for the week. We’ll definitely share all the exciting events taking place during the show. First USAF F-35A European Training Deployment Concludes Many people probably don’t know that within a seven-day period in April, the F-35 operated in seven countries around the world. This included Bulgaria, Estonia, Israel, Italy, Japan, United States and the United Kingdom! Speaking of the U.K., the deployment of eight F-35As from Hill AFB to RAF Lakenheath, England, was a major part of that footprint as they operated in their first ever European training exercise. The eight F-35As and supporting crew are now back in the U.S. after completing a very successful training exercise. The squadron flew 76 sorties and tallied more than 150 flying hours alongside F- 15s from the 48th Fighter Wing. "This exercise provided our pilots with the opportunity to practice working together to solve complex tactical scenarios using integrated operations that optimized both the F-35 and F-15's capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Jason Zumwalt, the 493rd Fighter Squadron commander. “We found that by working together, we can achieve a higher level of performance than either aircraft can achieve alone." I am extremely excited for what the future holds for this amazing aircraft. The future of F-35A operations is here and the U.S. Air Force continues to embrace it with each new milestone achieved.

PAX River ITF Successfully Completes Several SDD Weapon Firings Missile shots and gunfire testing are an exciting part of flight test. They provide confirmation of the capability the F-35 provides to the warfighter. In just the past week, the F-35 Pax River ITF successfully completed four missile firings and four gunfire bursts in the latest achievement for the SDD program – a true testament that the team is working diligently to finish SDD strong! Completing eight complex tests in such a short time is a tremendous accomplishment on the part of the ITF team. Weapons testing is one of the most demanding tests to coordinate, execute and complete. Months of preparation goes into making each trigger pull a success. To achieve two or three in a week is huge; to accomplish eight separate events is out of this world. I truly appreciate everyone’s professionalism and dedication across the enterprise to make this happen. Let’s all join PAX River to work together to finish SDD strong!