Article Posted on : - Apr 04, 2013

The F-35 Lightning II. Photo: Lockheed Martin/by Randy Crites

FORT WORTH, TEXAS (BNS): Lockheed Martin has conducted the first operational flight of the third F-35 Lightning II for United Kingdom.

The aircraft, known as ZM137, on Monday sped down the runway at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base with Lockheed Martin F-35 Chief Test Pilot Alan Norman at the controls.

ZM137 will complete a series of company and government checkout flights prior to its acceptance by the UK Ministry of Defence.

ZM137 will join UK aircraft ZM135 and ZM136 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, later this year where it will be used for pilot and maintainer training.

The second aircraft known as ZM136 and BF-16 was delivered in October last year and the first United Kingdom F-35B in July.

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th Generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment.

The UK was the first of eight international partners to join the F-35 programme. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.