FLIR Systems captured the F-35 using their FLIR 380-HDc infrared camera at the Farnborough International Air Show, let’s have a look at the results.
In 2015, the UK government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review confirmed a planned order of 138 F-35s, with 23 of them to be available for carrier duties by 2023.
The programme is progressing at a steady rate with the Royal Air Force recently starting in-flight refuelling clearance trials of its Voyager tanker with the F-35.
The F-35B’s maiden deployment is set for late 2017 and it’s bound for the Western Pacific. The jet will deploy aboard an amphibious flattop and the US Marine Corps are planning a more powerful escort force to support it, according to Admiral Scott Swift, head of Pacific Fleet, as reported by the Marine Times.
The F-35B has already flown from American assault ships as part of a series of tests, which largely went well.
Additionally, F-35 unit costs have been going down with each successive lot of aircraft and will continue to do so.
