Pratt & Whitney’s F135 initial flight test powerplant for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has finished successful runs at NAS JRB Fort Worth, Tex., which is near Lockheed Martin’s final assembly plant, according to a company statement. The company says the runs took place at an indoor facility that had been modified to handle the new engine’s 40,000 pounds of thrust—which makes it “the most powerful fighter engine ever built.”
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
