Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Eglin gets final F-35A

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 58th Fighter Squadron became the Air Force's first complete F-35A squadron with the delivery of the 26th and final F-35A May 28 to the 33rd Fighter Wing. Maj. Scott Charlton ferried AF-45 from Lockheed Martin's plant in Fort Worth, Texas. The last F-35A delivered is more capable than the first F-35A delivered three years ago as a result of the F-35 program's concurrency development model. The concurrency model executes testing, training and development simultaneously and incorporates feedback from each area into subsequent Low Rate Initial Production blocks. The 33rd FW is home to the F-35 Integrated Training Center responsible for F-35 A/B/C pilot and maintainer training for the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air Force and, in the future, at least eight international partners. (Source: 33rd Fighter Wing Public Affairs, 06/02/14)