AF-6, the second F-35A production aircraft accepted into the Air Force’s inventory, has arrived at Edwards AFB, Calif., to take part in F-35 flight test activities, announced prime contractor Lockheed Martin. It joins AF-7, the first production F-35A to enter the force, that arrived one week prior at the California base. Both airplanes flew in from Lockheed’s assembly plant in Fort Worth, Tex., to bolster the fleet of four F-35A test aircraft already at Edwards. Once their role in testing is complete, AF-6 and AF-7 will be part of the joint F-35 schoolhouse at Eglin AFB, Fla. The Air Force intends to buy 1,763 F-35As to replace legacy F-16s and A-10s. AF-8, the first F-35A production aircraft that will go directly to the schoolhouse, made its maiden flight on May 6 in Fort Worth.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
