F-35 Breaks the Sound Barrier

File photo: Lockheed Martin

From Aviation Week:

The Joint Strike Fighter has gone supersonic for the first time. The pre-production F-35, aircraft AA-1, reached Mach 1.05 during an hour-long flight from Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth plant earlier today (Nov. 13). A small, but significant milestone.

It was AA-1's second flight of the day and the 69th since its maiden sortie on Dec. 15, 2006. Total flight time is just past the 95-hour mark - not a huge amount, but if anyone is plotting this out, the curve has been reasonably steep in the last few weeks.

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