Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter has amassed more than 6,000 hours of testing system development and demonstration ground testing, in addition to the more than 3,600 hours logged during the concept demonstration phase of the F-35, according to a company press release. P&W, which recently supervised a full after-burner test, says the engine is ready for F-35 taxi testing slated for later this fall.
The Space Force recently stood up an acquisition unit that will oversee how the service rolls out new equipment for a slew of missions related to how the military gathers information in and communicates from orbit.