Lockheed F-35C Jet Lands on Carrier in 1st At-Sea Development Test

Lockheed Martin‘s F-35 carrier variant performed an arrested landing on the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier Monday as part of an estimated two-week initial at-sea development test of the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter.

The Navy said Monday that Cmdr. Tony Wilson, a U.S. Navy test pilot, landed one of two F-35C planes onto the carrier’s flight deck under the DT-I test phase.

“With the first traps of the F-35C Lightning II aboard an aircraft carrier, we begin the integration of the next generation of warfighting capability into our carrier-based air wings,” said Vice Adm. David Buss, commander of Naval Air Forces.

The report said DT-I begins a series of three at-sea tests by the F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force to demonstrate operational maneuvers such as arrested landings and catapult takeoffs.

Naval Air Forces plans to utilize environmental data from the flight tests to evaluate the progress of the aircraft’s integration onto flight deck operations.