WASHINGTON: What is being described as a milestone for new hi-tech warplane, the US military’s F-35 fighter jet made its first landing aboard an aircraft carrier.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the most expensive weapons program in US history and has been plagued by technical glitches and cost overruns, but the Pentagon touted the landing at sea a crucial step forward.
The test flight had the Joint Strike Fighter successfully touching down on the USS Nimitz off the coast of San Diego, with the pilot guiding the plane so its tailhook snagged on the ship’s arresting wires, the US Navy said in a statement.
There are three variants of the plane, a standard model, a second one designed for short-landing and vertical take-off and the third — the F-35C — outfitted to operate from aircraft carriers.
The landing is part of flight testing at sea that will last for about two weeks, and will help pave the way to deploy the aircraft in the naval fleet by 2018, officials said.
“We plan on learning a lot during this developmental test and will use that knowledge to make the naval variant of the F-35 an even more effective weapons platform,” Lt-Gen Chris Bogdan, head of the F-35 program, said in a statement.
The Pentagon plans to spend $391.2 billion on a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft, which are manufactured by defense giant Lockheed Martin.
