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F-35 Lightning II Program Public Affairs Release – 2012 02 23 FIRST F-35B FLIGHT WITH EXTERNAL WEAPONS NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – Over an Atlantic test range, Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Levin flies F-35B test aircraft BF-2 with external weapons pylons for the first time Feb. 22. The test measured flying qualities with external pylons, inert AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and centerline 25 mm gun pod. Significant weapons testing for the F-35B and F-35C variants is scheduled for 2012, including fit checks, captive carriage, pit drop and aerial drop tests. The F-35B is the variant of...

The second Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter arrived today at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph T. "O.D." Bachmann piloted the aircraft nonstop from Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas, plant to Patuxent River, successfully completing aerial refueling en route. Bachmann departed at 11:07 a.m. EST and arrived in Patuxent River at 2:26 p.m. EST. "Pax River is ready to begin the extensive four-year flight test campaign to help field the future of Marine Corps and Navy Aviation," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland Naval Air Station Patuxent River, also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States Naval Air Station located in St. Mary's County on Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River. It is home to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and serves a center for test and evaluation and systems acquisition relating to Naval Aviation. Commissioned on 1 April 1943 on land largely acquired through eminent domain, the air station grew rapidly in response to World War II. The base became a...

<p>The only privately owned Sea Harrier vertical/short take-off and landing fighter suffered a gear collapse when making an emergency landing at the US Navy's Patuxent River test centre after experiencing a hydraulic problem.</p> <p>This video footage posted by Nalls Aviation, the US owner of the ex-Royal Navy BAE Systems Sea Harrier F/A-2, shows the 11 November emergency vertical landing on the hover grid at Pax River in Maryland.</p>