F-35B Lightning II completed the first short takeoff and vertical landing during a test mission at night to expand the flight envelope an...
Marine Corps test pilot Maj. C.R. Clift conducted the flight April 2 to gather data onthe helmet and lighting conditions for night time operations. The test was one of a series of events being conducted to prepare for the second of three scheduled at-sea test periods during the development program.
The F-35B has conducted approximately 700 short takeoffs and completed more than 380 vertical landings including the first operational vertical landing aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, on March 21, 2013.
The first F-35 ship trials occurred in 2011, when two F-35Bs performed 72 vertical landings and takeoffs aboard the USS WASP, a large-deck amphibious ship.
Designed at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, the F-35B is the first aircraft in history to combine stealth with vertical landing capabilities and supersonic speeds.
The F-35B is designed for use by the U.S. Marine Corps, as well as F-35 international partners in the United Kingdom and Italy. The F-35B is capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings to enable air power projection from amphibious ships, ski-jump aircraft carriers and expeditionary airfields.
A shaft-driven LiftFan propulsion system built by Rolls-Royce is incorporated at the aft of F-35B's cockpit to accomplish the STOVL capabilities. Doors fitted above and below the vertical fan open as the fin spins up for vertical lift of the aircraft. The counter-rotating LiftFan produces more than 20,000lb of thrust with the help of the gas turbine.
Three-bearing swivelling exhaust nozzle is appended by two roll control ducts on the inboard section of the wing. The engine combined with the vertical LiftFan renders the requisite STOVL capability.
