Ross Wilkers
The U.S. Air Force plans to fly 16 Lockheed Martin F-35 jets every week this month, an uptick from 11 flights during the last week of May, Flight Global reports.
Lt. Col. Lee Kloos, commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing’s 58th Fighter Squadron, told the website the branch wants to fly 20 planes per week starting in September
The Florida-based wing currently has nine F-35A, nine F-35B and one British F-35B as well as three instructor pilots, according to Dave Majumdar’s report.
Marine Corps Col. Arthur Tomassetti said the branch has flown more than 160 jets and has five pilots from the branch’s VMFAT-501 unit certified to fly the plane.
Tomassetto also told Majumdar the planes are receiving their first software upgrades from Block 1A to Block 1B in the A and B variants, including a new voice recognition feature for switching radio channels.
During a recent Navy test, the F-35 released an airborne weapon for the first time.
