Engineers at Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee have spent six years participating in F-35 Joint Strike Fighter development and testing, states an AEDC news release. The center has logged about 10,000 hours on the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine and wind tunnel model testing. AEDC spent $17 million to upgrade its facilities primarily to accommodate testing for the new F135 engine because “it’s an evolution in the art of aircraft engines—more airflow, more thrust, go-faster type of things,” explained Jeff Albro, AEDC F135 program manager. The center has tested all three variants—conventional takeoff and landing, short takeoff and landing, and carrier version—each with different flight characteristics.
The U.S., South Korea, and Japan flew an unusual trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, and two ROK Air Force KF-16 fighters—both countries’ respective variants of the F-16—July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations…