Lockheed Martin delivers 300th production F-35 aircraft

The 300th production F-35 aircraft is a USAF A-model, to be delivered to Hill AFB, Utah

Taken on Jun. 11, 2018 the photo in this post shows the 300th production F-35 aircraft flying off the flight line at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas.

Noteworthy the 300th production F-35 aircraft, which was delivered by Joint Program Office (JPO) and Lockheed Martin, demonstrates the program’s continuos progress and momentum. The 300th aircraft is a U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-35A, to be delivered to Hill Air Force Base (AFB), Utah.

“The F-35 weapons system is a key enabler of our National Defense Strategy and is providing our warfighters the combat proven, advanced capabilities they need to meet mission requirements,” said Vice Admiral Mat Winter, program executive officer for the F-35 Joint Program Office, in a Lockheed Martin news release. “The 300th production aircraft delivery is a significant milestone that highlights the effective F-35 Enterprise collaboration across the JPO, U.S. services, partners and industry. Moving forward, our F-35 team remains committed to driving costs down, quality up and faster delivery timelines across our development, production and sustainment lines of effort.”

The first 300 F-35s include 197 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variants, 75 F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variants, and 28 F-35C carrier variants (CV) and have been delivered to U.S. and international customers. More than 620 pilots and 5,600 maintainers have been trained, and the F-35 fleet has surpassed more than 140,000 cumulative flight hours.

“This milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our joint government and industry team as we collaborate to deliver transformational F-35 capabilities to the men and women in uniform,” said Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of the F-35 program. “We are focused on reducing costs, increasing efficiencies, and ensuring the highest level of quality as we ramp to full rate production and sustainment of the operational fleet.”

Photo credit: Lockheed Martin

Artwork courtesy of AircraftProfilePrints.com