Lockheed Martin has hailed progress on the F-35 Lightning II System Development and Demonstration (SDD) program, with the 282 flight hours spanning 153 flights accumulated in April representing a monthly SDD record.
“The SDD fleet achieving more than 150 flights in one month speaks to the quality of this aircraft and the commitment of this team,” stated Lockheed Martin vice-president for F-35 test and verification JD McFarlan. “We’re nearly complete with Block 2B software flight science testing on the F-35As and we’ll move forward with Block 3 software testing this [northern hemisphere] summer.”
McFarlan added that Block 2B testing for the F-35B is scheduled to be completed in 2014 to support the achievement of Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the US Marine Corps in 2015.
