IN A CEREMONY that emphasized the Joint Strike Fighter's global pedigree, Lockheed Martin presented the UK's first F-35B Lightning II to the Ministry of Defense on July 19 at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, plant. The acceptance of ZM135, a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, also marked the first international delivery of an F-35. Britain, the first of eight international partners to join the JSF program, has ordered three Lightning lis and the ministry announced it would purchase a fourth model in 2013. UK-based BAE Systems builds the aft fuselage, fuel system, crew escape, and life support systems. The single-engined F-35 is assembled in Fort Worth where Lockheed Martin also builds the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy will conduct F-35 flight trials in the coming years from land bases and ships. By the time they are operational from airfields in 2018, the fighters will he conducting tests from the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of a pair of RN supercarriers.
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