Lockheed Martin engineers are pouring over the results of several ground speed taxi tests of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter before giving the OK to take the new fighter into the air. In the last taxi test Tuesday, Lockheed’s chief test pilot Jon Beesley sped down the runway at speeds up to 127 mph. A company statement said Lockheed would alert the news media “upon conclusion of the flight.”
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.