Lockheed Martin recently highlighted a pair of F-35 aircraft milestones, one related to delivery and the other to logged flight hours.
Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office have delivered the 500th F-35, and last month, the F-35 enterprise surpassed 250,000 flight hours.
“These milestones are a testament to the talent and dedication of the joint government, military, and industry teams,” Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin, vice president and general manager of the F-35 program, said. “The F-35 is delivering an unprecedented 5th Generation combat capability to the warfighter at the cost of a 4th Generation legacy aircraft.”
The 500 hundred F-35s feature 354 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variants, 108 F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variants, and 38 F-35C carrier (CV) variants for domestic and international customers.
The 250,000 flight hours include all F-35s in the fleet comprised of developmental test jets, training, operational, domestic, and international aircraft, operating from 23 bases worldwide.
More than 985 pilots and over 8,890 maintainers are trained via the program, officials said, adding nine nations use the F-35 from home soil, eight services have declared Initial Operating Capability and four services have employed F-35s in combat operations.