THE FIRST BRITISH F-35 TAKES TO THE SKIES

BK1, the first British F-35B has made its maiden flight and taken to the skies, complete with British military roundels and markings. The aircraft will undergo a series of trials and tests throughout a 45-minute test flight with test pilot Bill Gigliotti over the skies of Texas in the United States.

The aircraft must undergo a number of company and government checkout flights before it can be handed over to the UK Ministry of Defence. Once it is received by the MOD it will endure training and operational tests at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Under current plans, the UK is to order the conventional take-off and landing variant, the F-35C, and not the F-35B which is a STVOL version. BK1 is an F-35B but it will be quite a few years until the first British F-35C rolls off the production line. Until then, the BK1 will be used by British aviators for crucial learning experiences -- the combat and mission systems of the F-35B and F-35C are near-enough the same, anyway.

BK1 is the first international F-35 to take to the skies and it brings the UK a step closer to obtaining fifth-generation capability