Lockheed Martin officials announced that the Marine Corps short takeoff/vertical landing variant of the F-35 had engaged its STOVL propulsion system for the first time Jan. 7 during flight tests at NAS Patuxent River, Md. The flight lasted 14 minutes, during which BAE Systems test pilot Graham Tomlinson climbed to 5,000 feet, engaged the shaft-driven LiftFan propulsion system at 210 knots, and then slowed to 180 knots with the system still engaged before accelerating again to 210 knots and converting back to conventional-flight mode. Lockheed executive Dan Crowley said that extended ground testing had proved that the STOVL propulsion “performs well.” He continued, “Now we are seeing early proof that the system operates in flight as our team predicted.” Meanwhile, Pentagon officials are poised to slow the buy rate to put more money into the strike fighter’s reportedly shaky development program.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.