DTN News: F-35 Does First Hovering Test 
Source: DTN News / Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 18, 2010: Lockheed Martin Corp's (
LMT.N) first F-35 short takeoff, vertical landing Joint Striker Fighter aircraft demonstrated its hovering capability Wednesday, the company said.
Lockheed said the flight was a significant test ahead of the first vertical landing of the F-35B, one of three radar-evading models in the Pentagon's costliest acquisition program.
The F-35 is being built for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, eight foreign partner countries and other potential overseas buyers. Its average cost has soared 60 percent to 90 percent in real terms beyond what was projected in 2001, when development began, Pentagon officials told Congress last week.
The Marines are due to start using the jump-jet version being tested at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, in 2012.
"Today's successful tests are the latest steps in demonstrating the F-35B's ability to conduct operations from small ships and unprepared fields, enabling expeditionary operations around the globe," Joe Stout, a Lockheed spokesman, said in an emailed statement.
(Reporting by Jim Wolf; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Source: DTN News / Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 18, 2010: Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) first F-35 short takeoff, vertical landing Joint Striker Fighter aircraft demonstrated its hovering capability Wednesday, the company said.
Lockheed said the flight was a significant test ahead of the first vertical landing of the F-35B, one of three radar-evading models in the Pentagon's costliest acquisition program.
The F-35 is being built for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, eight foreign partner countries and other potential overseas buyers. Its average cost has soared 60 percent to 90 percent in real terms beyond what was projected in 2001, when development began, Pentagon officials told Congress last week.
The Marines are due to start using the jump-jet version being tested at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, in 2012.
"Today's successful tests are the latest steps in demonstrating the F-35B's ability to conduct operations from small ships and unprepared fields, enabling expeditionary operations around the globe," Joe Stout, a Lockheed spokesman, said in an emailed statement.
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