The Lockheed Martin, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program continued a steady path of flight test milestones in August, including weapons separation, software compatibility and flight hours, all demonstrating program maturity.

“The test milestones are a direct result of the detailed planning, coordination and execution between various government teams and the integrated test force,” said J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President for F-35 Test & Verification. “Every testing milestone demonstrates the development of the F-35 in successive steps toward enabling the U.S. Marine Corps to attain its F-35B Initial Operational Capacity (IOC) next year.”