US Secretary for Defense Leon Panetta has announced the lifting of the F-35B STOVL variant’s probation, citing “tremendous amounts of testing” and “real progress towards fixing some of the known problems” with the aircraft. Speaking at Naval Air Station Patuxent (Pax) River, Panetta said the F-35B was now “demonstrating the kind of performance and maturity
The Australian Army has suspended flying operations for its Sikorsky S-70A-9 Black Hawk trooplift helicopters following the identification of a number of fractured bolts during a routine maintenance check. Acting Director General Aviation COL Stephen Evans said the suspension – which took wffect from January 19 – was to ensure safety, and is consistent with
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has made its first night flight, Lockheed Martin has announced. F-35A AF-6 took off from Edwards Air Force Base at 5.05pm on January 18, landing after sunset at 6.22pm, with the jet, flown by Lockheed Martin test pilot Mark Ward, flying a series of straight in approaches in twilight and
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 System Development and Demonstration program accrued more than the required test flights and test points in 2011, the company has announced. The 2011 flight testing plan called for the accumulation of 872 flights and 6622 test points. The SSD program flew 972 flights and tallied 7823 test points across all three variants
BAE Systems Australia will produce titanium parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at a new facility in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, the company has announced. The facility, a collaborative arrangement between BAE, Rosebank Engineering and the South Australian government, will house Australia’s “biggest advanced aerospace components manufacturing and treatment operation,” BAE says. BAE
Boeing has announced a $370 million contract to produce 14 CH-47F Chinook helicopters for the US Army, including seven destined for the ADF under a previously announced Foreign Military Sales agreement. Six of the other Chinooks will be sold to the United Arab Emirates while one will be kept by the US. Australia expects to
