Lockheed Martin on Dec. 18 rolled out the first short takeoff and vertical landing Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B, destined for the US Marine Corps and Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Marine Corps and the Italian Air Force and Navy. The company expects to make first flight in mid-2008. The USAF version, the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, began its flight tests in December 2006. Despite a later start, the F-35B is slated to become operational for USMC in 2012, a year earlier than USAF’s version. A company release notes that Lockheed has an additional six development STOVL F-35s in production and has the long-lead procurement funding for the first six production F-35Bs, planned for 2011 delivery.
The total number of reported sexual assaults in the Department of the Air Force ticked up about two percent in 2024 while still trailing the total from 2022, as Pentagon officials say a hiring freeze on federal government civilian employees limits their ability to fill critical sexual assault prevention and…