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Lockheed Martin the F-35 flight test program has now achieved 411 flights so far this year.
From the beginning of 2011 until May 31, the F-35 accomplished 378 flights and 3342 test points, ahead of the planned figures of 297 flights and 2217 test points respectively. Milestones for the program includie F-35B STOVL jet BF-1 performing its 100th vertical landing on May 12 and F-35A AF-1 flying to Mach 1.53, the fastest speed recorded of any F-35 so far. Meanwhile, F-35A AF-7 completed the longest test mission flown at 4.1 hours.
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The USAF also accepted the second LRIP F-35A (AF-6) into service on May 13, F-35A AF-9 completed its first flight on the same day. Two F-35C carrier variants (CF-2 and CF-3) were delivered to the F-35 test fleet at NAS Patuxent River on May 16 and June 2 respectively. All three F-35 variants also flew a record total of 94 System Development and Demonstration (SDD) flights for May, the highest achieved for a single month in the program’s history.
