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F-35 may see combat in 2018
After a very long and problematic development process, the F-35 Lightning II is about to serve on the front lines. The US Marine Corps is deploying the F-35B (the short takeoff and vertical landing variant) to ships in the Central and Pacific Command theaters in the spring and summer of 2018. The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit is traveling aboard the USS Essex, which is headed to the Middle East, while the 31st will be attached to the USS Wasp and might head to the coast of North Korea.
Marine Corps finally declares the F-35B ready for combat
After years of testing and development, production setbacks and cost overruns and more than half a trillion dollars invested, the F-35B fighter jet has finally passed its biggest milestone to date: it's achieved initial operational capability (IOC) within the US Marine Corps. That means that the F-35B can now be deployed around the world and employed in active combat.
Visualized: F-35B fighter's vertical landing, in the dark (video)
The jury's still out on Lockheed Martin's F-35B fighter. The aircraft is expected to cost the US more than $1.5 trillion over its lifetime, and it's been described as being too heavy and too sluggish -- one critic has gone so far as to call the jet a "dog." One thing's for sure, though: the F-35 looks mighty impressive, especially when it's landing vertically on an aircraft carrier. In the dark. Click past the break for a look at Lockheed's trillion-dollar light show, courtesy of Uncle Sam.
Production F-35B performs first vertical takeoff, won't do it often (video)
For the first time ever, a production-grade Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II has performed a vertical takeoff (VTO) maneuver, followed by a short hover at low altitude and vertical landing. Though the US Marines had required such a function from the outset of the program (which has already been performed by prototype F-35Bs) it can only be used for very short jaunts. That's because the $300 million jet, like the Harrier before it, can't carry any armaments or much fuel in such a configuration -- meaning almost all of its takeoff and landings will be of the non-vertical, short variety instead. Meanwhile, the Air Force said it'll deploy the F-35A variant a year earlier than predicted in mid-2016, according to Reuters, giving the much beleaguered program a double-shot of good news. Head after the break to catch the rather dramatic video.
The Daily Roundup for 03.27.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Operational F-35B fighter jet's first vertical landing was years, billions in the making (video)
Lockheed Martin's F-35 program has been a political whipping boy seemingly forever, but a production VTOL 'B'-variant of the pricey supersonic jet finally did what it was made for: a vertical landing. That happened nearly three years to the day after the estimated $304 million (each!) jet's first mid-air hover test, at which point the Pentagon pegged the cost at $83 million. Inflation aside, the US Marine's variant seemed to make a fine, if solid three point landing and Lockheed Martin says it's made considerable strides in the flight testing program over the last couple of years, despite all the overruns and delays. Hopefully that means the US Marines, Britain's Royal Air Force et. al. will be able to deploy that capability on their F-35B's soon -- ie, before they're already obsolete. Check the video after the break. Update: As commenter daveschroeder pointed out, this is the first vertical landing of a production version of the F-35B. Test copies of the fighter (with test pilots aboard) have been performing the feat since late 2011, so we've tweaked the article to make that point clear.
F-35B supersonic jet's first mid-air hover (video)
VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) is no great shakes in a wargadget these days -- and a craft like the F-35B, with its short-take off and vertical-landing capabilities might be even less shocking -- but jets that stop whatever they're doing mid-air to just hover awhile? That's another story entirely. The $83 million-plus, supersonic stealth jet did just that yesterday, according to Lockheed Martin. The flight began with a conventional takeoff and the aircraft hit about 200 knots before the pilot switched her into STOVL, culminating in a zero airspeed hover 150 feet above the runway. This is the first "mid-air hover" by the aircraft, and if development continues at the pace most of these programs do it should see active service sometime around Engadget's 25th birthday. Video after the break.
