F-35 Operational Flights To Start In 2015

Credit: JSF JPO

Pentagon:  -- DoD Buzz

The Marine Corps will begin operational flights of the F-35 fighter jet in 2015, followed by the Air Force in 2016 and the Navy in 2019, according to newly released information from the Defense Department.

The services were required to notify Congress by June 1 of the dates they expect to have enough aircraft in the fleet to support missions, a milestone known in military parlance as initial operating capability, or IOC.

The Marine Corps version of the jet, called the F-35B, which can take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane, will reach the milestone by December 2015; the Air Force’s by December 2016 and the Navy’s by February 2019, according to information provided by Marine Capt. Richard Ulsh, a spokesman for the service at the Pentagon.

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My Comment: Eric Palmer (via twitter) sums it up best .... "How can IOC dates for the F-35 be declared when operational testing/certification is a flying question mark?"

Update #1: USAF Accepts Limited Capability With 2016 F-35 IOC -- Aviation Week
Update #2: Combat Ready Dates for F-35 Jets Set by U.S. Military -- Bloomberg