Marine F-35B conducts first operational testing at sea

The Marine Corps' latest fighter jet has completed more than 80 successful sorties as part of its first operational testing at sea.

Early Tuesday morning, F-35B joint strike fighters — the service's short-takeoff, vertical-landing variant of the aircraft — screeched across the deck of the amphibious assault ship Wasp in quick succession, racking up the tally further.

Pilots in six aircraft are now conducting day and night operations off the mid-Atlantic seaboard as the first part of the final phase of real-world testing before the aircraft reaches its long-anticipated initial operational capability milestone this July.

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