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All three variants of the relatively new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter have failed to hit readiness targets entirely. That’s according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a watchdog agency reporting on federal programs. GAO, which assessed all the nation’s tactical aircraft, found that no fighter planes are doing particularly well at meeting annual mission-capable goals – no Navy or Marine Corps platforms hit that target in the last six years – but the report’s data particularly underscores challenges faced by the F-35, despite maintenance and sustainment costs climbing at an unmatched rate. The report, which covers...

<p>An image and multiple videos of a Lockheed Martin F-35C stealth fighter jet that crashed-landed on an aircraft carrier transiting an undisclosed location in the South China Sea were leaked onto the internet in early February. After an investigation, the US Navy charged a handful of sailors for leaking internal video footage of the incident.</p>

An F-35C Joint Strike Fighter was involved in a mishap today while landing aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which is currently operating in the South China Sea. The pilot ejected from the aircraft and is in a stable condition, while seven other sailors aboard the ship were injured as a result of the accident. The fate of the aircraft is uncertain.USNI News was the first to report on this incident, citing a U.S. Navy release. That release also said that of the seven injured sailors, four received treatment aboard the Carl Vinson, while three were evacuated to a...

The U.S. Navy has confirmed the authenticity of a video showing the final moments leading up to one of its F-35C stealth fighters being involved in a mishap while landing aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, while operating in the South China Sea. https://youtu.be/bkXiHD9qKzk

The cause is still unclear: When a US fighter jet tries to land on an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, an accident occurs. The jet crashes, the pilot is able to save himself by ejecting. Several sailors are injured on deck.At least seven sailors were injured when an F-35 fighter jet crashed while attempting to land on a US aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. Three were taken to the hospital in Manila, Philippines, after the "accident," the US Navy said. Her condition was therefore stable.The other four injured received medical treatment on board the aircraft carrier...

The Boeing prototype MQ-25A T1 unmanned carrier tanker refueled an F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter as part of early testing for the program, Naval Air Systems Command announced on Tuesday. The F-35C, assigned to the “Salty Dogs” of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23, and the MQ-25 flew from MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Ill., near Boeing’s facility in St. Louis for the test flights. The fighter and the “Stingray” prototype drone tanker “performed formation evaluations, wake surveys, drogue tracking and plugged with the MQ-25 test asset at 225 knots calibrated airspeed (KCAS) and altitude of 10,000 feet. From...

A deployed US Navy aircraft carrier sailed into the South China Sea this week carrying F-35 stealth fighters in a first for the service.The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group departed San Diego early last month, making history at it sailed into the Pacific.At that time, the Nimitz-class carrier USS Carl Vinson became the first US Navy aircraft carrier to deploy with an integrated air wing consisting of both fourth-generation F/A-18 Super Hornets and fifth-generation F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters.The strike group is now in the South China Sea and conducting maritime security operations, the US Navy said in a...

Man, Boeing (NYSE:BA) just cannot catch a break. For a while there, 2015 was starting to look like the year Boeing defense got its wings back. In February, opining that "stealth may be overrated," U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert began laying the groundwork for the U.S. Navy breaking up with Lockheed Martin's F-35C fighter jet, and buying a bunch of Boeing F/A-18s for its carriers instead. Earlier this month, the Air Force floated a trial balloon of its own. In a controversial revelation, the Air Force suggested it was considering buying as many as six dozen cheaper...

There's nothing to see that has the F-35C landing on the USS Nimitz other than routine, only as a historic event of the first one ever to land on an aircraft carrier. Published on Nov 3, 2014 The first aircraft carrier arrested landing with the F-35C is scheduled this week aboard the USS Nimitz off the coast of California. (Nov. 3)

The U.S. Navy conducted the first arrested landing of an F-35C Joint Strike Fighter carrier variant on November 3. Cmdr. Tony Wilson, a Navy test pilot, landed test aircraft CF-03 on the flight deck of the carrier USS Nimitz off the coast of San Diego after flying from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz. The first arrested landing came at the start of initial at-sea developmental testing of the F-35C, which is expected to last for two weeks. The carrier testing involves test aircraft CF-03 and CF-05, both fitted with a redesigned tail hook after problems with the initial design...

Modifying the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter is part of what the U.S. Navy wants to discuss with contractors in a series of “technical interchange meetings” before it develops an analysis of alternatives (AoA) for a future carrier-based strike fighter. In a September 9 solicitation, the Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) invited companies to participate in the meetings “for the purposes of trade space refinement” before it begins the AoA process next year. Navair said the solicitation is an addendum to the request for information (RFI) it issued in April 2012 for the FA-XX requirement to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet...

It is reported that spiralling costs for the new aircraft carrier programme could force the Government to scrap the cat and trap version of the new Joint Strike Fighter in favour of a jump-jet variant. The Guardian and the Telegraph newspapers both report Defence Secretary Philip Hammond wants a U-turn after projected costs for modifying the carriers to take the F-35C fighters reached as much as two billion pounds. It is understood Prime Minister David Cameron has been warned the carrier programme could be delayed by as much as seven years – or until 2027 – if existing plans are...

Navy's £5bn Harrier jet replacement 'unable to land on aircraft carriers' The Royal Navy's multi-billion pound fighter plane programme is under threat amid claims that its new all-purpose jets cannot land on aircraft carriers, it has emerged. Leaked Pentagon documents claim a design flaw in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has caused eight simulated landings to fail. The “F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Concurrency Quick Look Review” claimed the flaw meant that the “arrestor” hook, used to stop the plane during landing, was too close to the plane’s wheels. When a fighter lands on an aircraft carrier an arrestor cable catches...

F-35C Launches to New Milestone From: USNavyVisualNews | Jul 27, 2011 | 664 views LAKEHURST, N.J. (July 27, 2011) An F-35C test aircraft piloted by Lt. Christopher Tabert launches from a steam catapult for the first time. CF-3 is the designated carrier suitability test aircraft. The F-35C carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter is distinct from the F-35A and F-35B variants with its larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear for greater control in the demanding carrier take-off and landing environment. The F-35C is undergoing test and evaluation at NAS Patuxent River before eventual delivery to the fleet. (U.S....

Risks in British Switch to Carrier Version of F-35 Identified By: Chris Pocock July 18, 2011 A report by the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) has listed some risks arising from the decision by UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to switch its Joint Strike Fighter selection from the F-35B STOVL (short takeoff and vertical landing) version to the F-35C carrier version. The decision was part of a defense review that delayed the in-service date of one of two new aircraft carriers to which the MoD was already fully committed, until 2018. The other new carrier will be kept in reserve...

Lt. Cmdr. Eric "Magic" Buus on Friday became the first United States Navy pilot to fly the Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II.The F-35C will operate from the U.S. Navy's large aircraft carriers by way of catapult launch and arrested landing. The United Kingdom's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force also will employ the F-35C.

US Navy has received first stealth fighter F-35C Lightning II carrier variant, from Lockheed Martin, the company announced on Tuesday. The aircraft departed from NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base and arrived at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland on Saturday at 04.31 pm GMT. The aircraft has achieved successful air refuels at a maximum load of 19,800 pounds during the flight. The F-35C will conduct air-to-air refueling and performance tests at Patuxent River. The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter aircraft, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations, advanced...

US defence major Lockheed Martin today said it will offer its latest fifth generation F-35 fighters to meet Indian Navy's requirements for carrier-based combat aircraft. "We have received the Request for Information (RFI) from the Navy seeking information about the F-35 aircraft, which are capable of taking off from aircraft carriers. We are going to offer our aircraft to them," Lockheed Martin Vice President Orville Prins said here. He said presentations had been given to the Indian Navy about both the 'B'and 'C' versions of the aircraft in the recent past. The B version the F-35 is a short take-off...

The Navy held a conference call with reporters today to shoot down any rumors that it’s going soft on the carrier version (F-35C) of the Joint Strike Fighter in favor of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The Navy intends to buy 124 Super Hornets in a multiyear purchase plan between FY 2010–2013, for a grand total of 515 F/A-18E/F/G aircraft, said Rear Adm. Mike Manazir, head of naval aviation programs. But the fact that the Navy continues to buy large numbers of Super Hornets does not mean it doesn’t plan to buy even more F-35s, a true “game changing” 5th generation...

Lockheed Martin has unveiled the first naval variant for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme in a roll-out ceremony at its final assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas. '"It's an honour and a privilege and it is a great day", says Adm Gary Roughhead, chief of naval operations. The US Navy plans to operate 260 F-35C carrier variants among the 2,443 aircraft in the current US programme. "This airplane will top anything that comes it's way," Roughead adds. The first prototype CV model to roll off the production line - CF-1 - follows the debut of a conventional variant for...