Lockh
eed Martin on Dec. 18 rolled out the first short takeoff and vertical landing Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B, destined for the US Marine Corps and Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Marine Corps and the Italian Air Force and Navy. The company expects to make first flight in mid-2008. The USAF version, the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, began its flight tests in December 2006. Despite a later start, the F-35B is slated to become operational for USMC in 2012, a year earlier than USAF’s version. A company release notes that Lockheed has an additional six development STOVL F-35s in production and has the long-lead procurement funding for the first six production F-35Bs, planned for 2011 delivery.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.