The Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., has activated the 461st Flight Test Squadron to support the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Test Force. (We missed this Nov. 29 news release.) The unit’s commander, Lt. Col. Ed Cassidy, noted that the JSF team already had “completed the review of 12 test plans … and we’ve seen the first engine run out at Fort Worth, Tex.,” among other accomplishments. His unit will oversee continued facility upgrades and the fighter’s first flight, slated for this month.
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.