JSF Makes First Public Fly Over Appearance

The Joint Strike Fighter, F-35C version, made its first public appearance this past weekend at Andrew's Air Force Base in Maryland. The flyover on Saturday originated from the F-35C's primary test site at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The aircraft, CF-2, flew within its approved flight envelope and was accompanied by an F-18 Hornet flying chase.

The F-35C is a 5th generation strike fighter with stealth capability and has larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear for the demanding carrier environment for the Navy. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program is in the system development and demonstration phase, focusing on delivering three different and new aircraft variants to the US Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force and NATO.

This is an important program for RF/microwave companies as many of them are involved in the radar and EW systems development and production. It is one of the few programs that has some potential for a large number of units as the F-22 production quantities have been cut many times of recent years.