Transatlantic testing program for the F-35

Europe gets its most comprehensive-ever military airframe test facility.

“What we are doing with the F-35 Lightning II is to put together a single structural test concept that will cover all three configurations of the airplane. It will be complex, but it will match and meet all requirements,” said John Thompson, Structural Test Facility Chief, BAE Systems.

The most comprehensive and technically challenging military airframe test facility ever built in Europe is crucial to the development program of the multi-role F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, for which Lockheed Martin is the primary contractor in partnership with BAE, Northrop Grumman, GE-Aviation, Rolls-Royce, and Pratt & Whitney. The F-35 will be supplied to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and UK Royal Air Force and Navy. The three variants will be available in conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), carrier variant, and short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) versions.