The Joint Strike Fighter programme office has rejected a proposal by prime contractor Lockheed Martin to rearrange the F-35 flight-test plan, government and industry officials say. The decision means the conventional F-35A variant will start flight testing in late 2006, followed months later by the F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) design and, finally, the F-35C carrier variant. Programme officials had considered deferring flight tests on the overweight STOVL variant, which has already caused a one-year delay in the JSF system development and demonstration phase. The STOVL design is still listed as the first variant to achieve initial operational capability in about 2010.
Source: Flight International
