Lockheed Martin has reached another milestone in the Joint Strike Fighter program with the delivery of the 500th F-35 jet.
What is more, the F-35 enterprise surpassed 250,000 flight hours in February.
According to Lockheed Martin, the 500th production aircraft is a US Air Force F-35A, to be delivered to the Burlington Air National Guard Base in Vermont. The 500 hundred F-35s include 354 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variants, 108 F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variants and 38 F-35C carrier (CV) variants.
The 250,000 flight hours include all F-35s in the fleet comprised of developmental test jets, training, operational, US and international aircraft.
“These milestones are a testament to the talent and dedication of the joint government, military and industry teams,” said Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin, vice president and general manager of the F-35 program. “The F-35 is delivering an unprecedented 5th Generation combat capability to the warfighter at the cost of a 4th Generation legacy aircraft.”
As outlined by the company, the F-35 operates from 23 bases worldwide. More than 985 pilots and over 8,890 maintainers are trained. Nine nations use the F-35 from their home soil, eight services have declared initial operating capability and four services have employed F-35s in combat operations.
