The U.S. Navy made aviation history Monday when the new F-35C fighter jet made its first-ever arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier at sea off the coast of San Diego.
The historic landing was performed by U.S. Navy test pilot Cmdr. Tony Wilson, who landed the F-35C Lightening II test aircraft CF-03 on November 3rd at 12:18 p.m. aboard USS Nimitz’s (CVN 68) flight deck.
“Today is a landmark event in the development of the F-35C,” said Wilson, a Navy test pilot with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23. “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.”
Commander, Naval Air Forces, Vice Adm. David H. Buss, was aboard Nimitz to witness the milestone event.
“What a historic day today is for Naval Aviation. 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 Buss. “This important milestone is yet another indicator of Naval Aviation’s ongoing evolution to meet future threats and remain central to our future Navy and National Defense Strategy.”
The arrested landing is part of initial at-sea trials, officially known as the Developmental Testing I or DT-I, for the new Joint Strike Fighter jet, F-35C, which commenced November 3 and is expected to last two weeks.
DT-I is the first of three at-sea test phases planned for the F-35C. During DT-I, the test team from the F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) has scheduled two F-35C test aircraft from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Patuxent River, Maryland to perform a variety of operational maneuvers, including various catapult takeoffs and arrested landings. ITF flight test operations also encompass general maintenance and fit tests for the aircraft and support equipment, as well as simulated maintenance operations.
The initial testing is aimed at collecting environmental data to measure the F-35C’s integration to flight deck operations and to further define the F-35C’s operations aboard the aircraft carrier. The ITF test team will analyze 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 to make any adjustments necessary to ensure that the fifth-generation fighter is fully capable and ready to deploy to the fleet in 2018.
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