F 35В Lightning II Stеаlth Ореrаtiоnаl Tеst Triаls (ОТ 1) USS WАsp

Aviación Amy Butler here. As senior Pentagon editor, there are perks to being a scribe. May 26, I had the opportunity to witness aviation history with a small group of reporters invited to the USS Wasp amphibious ship to witness a few hours of the firstever F35B Operational Test (OT1) trails off the coast of North Carolina. I m posting some of the many videos I collected to give our readers a sense of what we saw on the boat. During OT1, actual Marines not test overseers are operating the six F35Bs that embarked May 18 for the tests; this includes pilots and maintainers. During DT (developmental testing), we got to see firsthand the first vertical landing and short takeoff at sea, but in OT1, the Marines are demonstrating a cadence to operations to gain confidence the singleengine, stealthy fighters can assimilate into an air wing onboard the amphibious ship, which will include other platforms: the MV22, CH53E, K, AHW, Z and unmanned air syste