My Observations And Questions After Finally Seeing F-35Bs Operate From HMS Queen Elizabeth
The better part of a decade after it lost its fixed-wing carrier capability, the Royal Navy is at it again and in a bigger and more capable way.
By Tyler RogowaySeptember 30, 2018
Tyler Rogoway
What a crazy week it has been for the F-35 program and the F-35B in particular. In the space of just a few days, the type racked up its first U.S. combat mission, its first operations aboard the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, and its first total loss crash and pilot ejection. It was definitely a mixed bag, but as I noted to readers on Friday, the F-35 program can only be incredibly proud of its safety record. Sure there have been plenty of close calls, but going through nearly 12 years of tortured developmental and operational flying (18 if you count the Joint Strike Fighter X-plane fly-off, but you really shouldn't) without an in-flight crash like the one of Friday really is quite amazing.
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/23939/my-observations-and-questions-after-finally-seeing-f-35bs-operate-from-hms-queen-elizabeth
