First Arrested Carrier Landing For Navy’s JSF

An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant Joint Strike Fighter has completed an arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier for the first time, the U.S. Navy announced this week. The landing took place aboard USS Nimitz off the coast of San Diego on Monday, shortly after noon. Navy Cmdr. Tony Wilson was the pilot. "Today is a landmark event in the development of the F-35C," said Cmdr. Wilson. "It is the culmination of many years of hard work by a talented team of thousands. I'm very excited to see America's newest aircraft on the flight deck of her oldest aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz."

The carrier landing is part of the first at-sea test phase for the F-35C. The test regime will be completed with two F-35C test aircraft from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Patuxent River, Maryland. The crews will perform operational maneuvers, including catapult takeoffs and arrested landings. The test operations also will encompass general maintenance and fit tests for the aircraft and support equipment, as well as simulated maintenance operations. The goal, the Navy said, is to collect data to measure the F-35C's integration to flight-deck operations and to further define the F-35C's operating parameters aboard the aircraft carrier. The test team will analyze the data obtained during flight test operations, conduct a thorough assessment of how well the F-35C operated in the shipboard environment, and advise the Navy regarding any adjustments necessary to ensure that the fifth-generation fighter is fully capable and ready to deploy to the fleet in 2018.