The first production-equivalent F-35A conventional takeoff and landing Joint Strike Fighter on Nov. 14 took its first flight—an 89-minute stroll during which Lockheed Martin test pilot Doc Nelson flew it from the company’s Fort Worth plant to 20,000 feet, reached 0.6 Mach, and conducted some 360-degree rolls. A Lockheed release notes the AF-1 was built on the same production line—the first modern fighter moving assembly line—as the 31 low rate initial production F-35s now undergoing assembly. Continue
Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant, head of Space Systems Command, praised the Space Development Agency and endorsed its continued independence within the Space Force—a key vote of confidence amid uncertainty gripping the agency.
