Sunday, December 11, 2011

Two F-35B fighter jets prepare to undergo sea-trials aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, in October of 2011.
Lockheed Martin

VIDEOS OF THE DAY... Just thought I’d share these two cool Youtube clips showing the F-35 Lightning II undergoing a series of tests as it prepares to achieve initial operational capability by the United States and several of its allies’ militaries over the next few years.

- The first video shows the F-35B variant (which will be used by the United Sates Marine Corps) of the Lightning II performing vertical landings on the deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp.

- The second clip shows the F-35C aircraft (which will be operated by the U.S. Navy) being launched by an experimental Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.

The EMALS is a high-tech catapult system that will be installed on the USS Gerald R. Ford (currently being assembled in Hampton Roads, Virginia)...which will be the first of a new class of aircraft carriers succeeding Nimitz-class flattops that have been employed by the U.S. Navy for the past 25-plus years. I’m looking forward to seeing an advanced fighter jet like the Lightning II soar into combat from an advanced warship like the Gerald R. Ford...which will join the U.S. naval fleet in 2015. Good stuff.



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