The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) successfully completed Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) Carrier Qualifications for the F-35C Lightning II program, carrier qualifying the first nine fleet aviators in the new aircraft, while underway Dec. 7-11.

From completing its first-ever aerial demonstration, to making several exciting international debuts, to tackling significant milestones and being delivered to global customers, 2017 was a year of many ‘first,’ for the F-35 program. Read on to learn more about some of the most exciting milestones the F-35 Lightning II.

When Lockheed Martin envisioned the F-35 Lightning II there was no doubting the ambition for its capabilities. Ed Hill discovers what this has meant for the manufacturers.

The U.S. Navy is is looking to the F35-C to become the future of air combat aircraft to eventually replace some of the aging legacy F18's. According to pilot Captain Rick Crecelius, the F35C is a fifth generation fighter jet jam-packed with technological upgrades. "It's indescribable. The leap in capability that is made

In-country pilot and maintenance training ramps up.

An F-35C Lightning II landed on and launched from Carl Vinson during day and nighttime operations, completing another step toward becoming an operationally capable aircraft.

The CNO and chairwoman toured the F-35 production line and speak to the men and women building the world’s most advanced air system.

​Jeff Babione, executive vice president and general manager for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II program, shares a program update with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian during a Sept. 19, 2017, interview at the Air Force Association’s 2017 Air, Space & Cyber conference and trade show.

Royal Navy and Royal Air Force pilots teamed up with fellow F-35 pilots from Italy and the Netherlands to take part in the latest interoperability trials that see coalition forces flying F-35s in a simulated mission scenario with other UK military platforms across land, sea and air.

Fleet Readiness Center Southeast became the first military depot to establish the capability to repair the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s advanced electro-optical targeting system, known as EOTS, Aug. 30.

The F-35C will introduce next generation strike-fighter aircraft capabilities to the Navy Carrier Air Wings, enabling the Carrier Strike Groups and numbered fleets to effectively engage and survive a wide range of rapidly evolving threats.

​It literally takes your breath away when you see a F-35 in the sky over Fort Worth

F-35 pilots get X-ray vision and other magic powers.

Aviation Week's Pentagon Editor Lara Seligman interviews Lockheed Martin test pilot Billie Flynn, the man that flew the F-35's premiere aerobatic performance at the Paris Air Show this summer, about what it's like to flight test both the F-16 and the Joint Strike Fighter.

Two Petty Officers 1st Class from the USS Abraham Lincoln received initial training from the U.S. Air Force’s 33rd Maintenance Squadron’s Aerospace Ground Equipment flight here, Aug. 7-11, 2017

The Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce held a luncheon today to discuss the two F-35 jet squadrons arriving at Eielson Air Force Base, and how the community ought to prepare for their arrival.

The 318th rear section for an F-35 Lightning II combat jet has rolled off the BAE Systems production line in Samlesbury, Lancashire meaning that 10% of the global requirement has now been produced.

“Operating between the systems is really easy. I don’t have engineers’ understanding of the systems, I couldn’t tell you how to design them, but I can tell you it is extremely simple,” said 1st Lt. Brett Burnside, who recently graduated the Air Force’s B-course at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.

Hill has earned another big piece in the future of sustaining the F-35, America’s newest fighter jet.

Jeff Babione, Lockheed Martin F-35 executive vice president and general manager, visited the Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Test Force July 20 and hosted an all hands event in one of the ITF’s hangars.

The F-35C Lightning II will introduce next generation strike-fighter aircraft capabilities to the Navy CVW.

“This 100K milestone marks a significant level of maturity for the program and the F-35 weapons system,” said Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President and F-35 Program General Manager Jeff Babione.

The Upgraded Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) is Approved for Installation at F-35 Sites

The F-35 Integrated Test Force recently performed another first-of-its-kind test when the aircraft released a laser-guided bomb against a moving target.

A world-leading flight engineering simulator created by BAE Systems is ready to be “flown” by F-35 Lightning II pilots for the first time as they prepare for flight trials on the UK’s new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier next year.

The Marine Corps could save about a billion dollars, reduce risk for pilots seeing too few flight hours each month and bring additional high-end capability to the fleet if the service were able to buy its F-35B and C Joint Strike Fighters at a faster pace, the deputy commandant for aviation said on Tuesday.

Lockheed Martin built the F-35 with integrated stealth to safely navigate the most heavily contested airspaces on earth, but if the situation calls for it, the F-35 can blow its cover and go "beast mode."

The Ogden Air Logistics Complex accomplished another "first" in support of the F-35 Lightning II program.

The F-35 isn't just better than its predecessors; it's revolutionizing the way the military thinks about fighter aircraft.

​Japan, Australia and South Korea are among the 11 countries in the F-35 program and represent the future of fifth-generation aviation in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region

These comments are evidence of the immense impact the F-35 has had on the men and women who rely on the jet to maintain superiority on the ground, over the seas and in the skies.

As he stands at the step desk, you wouldn’t miss the subtle differences in his uniform. His brown leather boots seem foreign next to the sage green ones accompanying him.

The Center Wing Assembly is a major structural component and represents approximately one quarter of the aircraft's fuselage.

Sensors in the pilot’s Generation “3 HMD” have been improved with new firmware to better enable pilots to target enemies and perform missions at night

​The U.S. Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin have reached agreement on the next lot of F-35 aircraft (LRIP 10).

A high ranking Marine Corps aviation officer believes an upcoming study comparing the F-35C and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet will back the Joint Strike Fighter.

Airmen from the 62nd Aircraft Maintenance Unit integrated with the Lockheed Martin maintainers to begin performing maintenance for the F-35 Lightning II beginning in Jan., eventually with the goal of taking over the U.S. F-35 maintenance for the unit.

The jets’ arrivals mark the first time the new strike-fighter variant has been deployed to a West-coast based squadron, the recently reactivated “Rough Raiders” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 125.

Nearly 400 sailors, families and local civic leaders witnessed the arrival and the accompanying ceremony marking the occasion

Lockheed Martin test pilot David "Doc" Nelson became the first pilot to achieve 1,000 flight hours in the F-35 during a test sortie Jan. 6.

The first F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters will arrive on the West Coast next week as the Navy prepares to ramp up its training pipeline for the next-generation stealth jet designed for carrier operations, Navy officials announced Tuesday.

If US President-elect Donald Trump moves forward with trying to supplant Lockheed Martin’s F-35 with Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, he can expect to find opposition from the Air Force, the service’s top civilian said.

Older fighter jets such as the F-16 and F/A-18 will never match the F-35, an Air Force general said.

According to Lt. Col. David "Chip" Berke, the only US Marine to fly both the F-22 and the F-35, the public has a lot of learning to do when assessing a jet's capability in warfare.

​F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin now anticipates the next software release of the jet's Autonomic Logistics Information System will begin fielding in early 2017 -- at least five months later than the program anticipated.

The Department of Defense has assigned F-35 Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade (MRO&U) capability for the first component repair assignments Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS), for the first 65 of 774 repairables.

"It will absolutely thrive in that environment," retired Air Force Col. John "JV" Venable told Business Insider.

he F-35 Lightning II program took another huge step forward Aug. 26 when the Air Force’s 100th F-35, designated AF-100, arrived here following the recent announcement of the fifth-generation jet fighter’s initial operational capability.

The highly diverse cadre assigned to the Salty Dogs of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 showcased their trademark test efficiency and effectiveness by completing 100 percent of the required DT-III test points.

During this unprecedented surge period, a total of 30 weapons were dropped or fired

With the aide of its new Block 3F software, the Lockheed Martin F-35 recently completed twelve weapons delivery accuracy and 13 weapon separation events during a month-long weapon test on the US West Coast.

DT-III is a significant milestone for the F-35C program and represents the progression towards US Navy IOC somewhere between August 2018 and Feb 2019.

The US Navy continued a three-year campaign to build the Lockheed Martin F-35C’s sea legs with the third and last shipboard deployment of the development test phase for the carrier-based variant starting on 14 August.

Two F-35C carrier variant versions of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) lined up Monday on catapults one and two of this aircraft carrier steaming about 75 miles off the Virginia coast. Blast doors lifted from the deck and the aircraft’s control surfaces wiggled as the pilot ran through final checks.

The F-35C Lightning II is conducting operations aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73) for Development Test III (DT-III).

The Navy’s F-35C Lightning II strike fighter is scheduled to begin carrier qualifications for the third and final phase of its developmental test program this week, a Navy spokesman said in an e-mail announcing the planned event.

The US Navy’s F-35C will head back to the seas next month for the third round of developmental tests aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington, the F-35 program executive officer (PEO) said.

The U.S. Defense Department on Monday extended by two years a project that has cut the cost of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter plane by more than $1 million per jet, and kicked off a similar project to cut operating and maintenance costs.

The initiatives are built upon the U.S. Government’s Better Buying Power initiatives, which encourage defense contractors and the USG acquisition community to determine new and innovative ways to reduce the cost of their goods and services.

The F-35 joint program executive officer (PEO) is confident that the program office has found a solution to software stability problems that induced the plane’s sensors to shut off more frequently than is acceptable, he said Tuesday.

The F-35C was flown in from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, by Navy Capt. Mark Weisgerber, the 33rd Fighter Wing vice commander.

On March 31 at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, Lockheed Martin's F-35 conducted the first test combining all three solutions designed to reduce the risk of neck injury to F-35 pilots during ejection, according to spokesman Joe DellaVedova.

“That’s going to be fixed,” Work said when asked about the issue. “I haven’t been told anything [otherwise] – I’m confident. Yup, it will be fixed.”

The LRIP 9 production contract includes 53 conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) and 13 short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) propulsion systems.

The Fiscal Year 2015 Selected Acquisition Report (SAR 2015) for the F-35 program demonstrates the continued improvement of the program’s total affordability and reflects increasing confidence by the US Services in the program.

The Navy’s top acquisition official told a key congressional panel Wednesday that “Marines absolutely love this aircraft” and expect to be fielding a new squadron of F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters in June.

Second Line of Defense discusses the F-35 test approach and way ahead with Andrew Maack, F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF) chief test engineer.

All 200 systems have been delivered on time or ahead of schedule for aircraft integration.

Not only does the F-35’s full-mission simulator provide greater fidelity than previous generations of fighter trainers, it also compensates for the fact it is too expensive to equip every test and training range with the full complement of threats it would be likely to go up against.

F-35 Lightning II aircraft operating at 12 different locations worldwide surpassed the 50,000 flight hour mark this month.

Lockheed Martin is expecting "additional production expansion" for the F-35.

The latest agreement continues to support program affordability initiatives with continued reduction in price associated with propulsion system production.

“Delivering the most F-35s in program history is a clear demonstration of our growing maturity and stability,” said Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin F-35 Program General Manager.

The F-35 joint strike fighter program is transitioning to a day when its pilots will come fresh out of flight school and the new jet fighter will be their first assignment.

The F-35 program will triple its aircraft production and fielding rate by 2019, producing over 120 planes per year. It will deliver about 43 planes next year.

​The first three F-35A jets flying at Hill AFB, Utah, are performing very well and have suffered no canceled sorties due to maintenance, 388th Fighter Wing Commander Col. David Lyons said at an Oct. 14 ceremony officially marking the start of F-35A operations there.

While all aircraft carrier pilots have a need for speed when getting airborne from the ship, F-35C test fliers were out to prove how slow they could go during flights earlier this month off CVN 69 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower off the Virginia coast.

While safety is the No. 1 concern, the issue will have little to no impact on current flying operations.

The aircraft is about 80 percent of the way through development testing.

The flight tests took place about 100 miles off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, in crosswinds of about 40 knots, and included the first night flights at sea with a redesigned helmet made by Rockwell Collins Inc and Israel's Elbit Systems.

Two F-35Cs, the Navy's carrier-landing variant, are set to spend 10 days training with carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower off the Virginia coast.

Two F-35C Lightning II aircraft made their first carrier landings aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower off the coast of the eastern United States on Friday, according to a Navy news release.

Over the next few years, the skies around Fort Worth will be filled with even more F-35s on shakedown flights as the Lockheed Martin plant moves toward full production of what, at $391.1 billion, is called the most expensive U.S. weapons system ever made.

Two F-35C Lightning II carrier variants conducted their first arrested landings aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) off the coast of the eastern United States on Oct. 2.

The aircraft, CF-2, released four 500-pound GBU-12 laser guided inert bombs from its wings’ pylons during consecutive test runs over the Atlantic Test Range.

The second round of testing is a milestone for the jet, which has wider wings than Air Force and Marine Corps versions, holds more fuel, and is designed to be catapulted off the deck of an aircraft carrier, and then land, using a special hook and heavy arresting gear.

Two weeks of joint testing of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet at a California air base by the Royal Netherlands Air Force showed that the new stealthy jets are able to share a significant amount of data with older warplanes, the pilot in charge of Dutch F-35 testing told Reuters.

The upcoming sea trials will mark the second phase of developmental testing for the Lockheed Martin-made F-35C.

How do pilots learn how to fly a fighter jet that cost a trillion dollars to develop (or a $100 million a pop to make)?

The F-22 and F-35 are put through the wringer at Edwards AFB, Calif.

The helmets pilots wear include an advanced heads-up-display and the ability to see “through” the floor of the fighter.

When the transition is complete, there will be 100 of the new jets in Lemoore and the base will be the largest naval strike fighter hub in the nation.

The aft fuselage, designed for a Conventional Take-Off and Landing variant aircraft, will now be transported to Lockheed Martin’s final assembly facility in Fort Worth, Texas to be fitted to the rest of the aircraft.

Today, Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Ltd (MBA) marked the delivery of the 200th ejection seat to Lockheed Martin for the F-35. John Martin, Martin-Baker Joint Managing Director, and Lorraine Martin, Executive Vice President and General Manager for the F-35 program, celebrated the delivery at the Paris Air Show.

Countries signing up to buy the joint strike fighter have all said they are interested in a block buy that could see commitments to purchase 500 of the aircraft, a Lockheed Martin official said Monday.

With the programme having already reduced the F-35 unit cost from USD250 million down to about USD120 million through LRIPs 1 to 8, Martin anticipates shaving another USD1 million of the price of the jet in LRIP 9.

The undersecretary noted that there was a fundamental change in the direction of discussions at the Oslo meeting.

A block buy of more than 400 jets would allow for "double-digit" cost savings from larger economies of scale when orders reach around 150 planes a year,

The Navy's transition to the F-35C Lightning II — coupled with the U.S. military's shift to the Pacific — is helping to turn this somewhat remote air station into the largest strike fighter hub in the Navy.

A current and qualified Forward Air Controller (FAC) from the United Kingdom, using the Rockwell Collins FireStorm Integrated Targeting System, was the first to successfully guide an F-35 Lightning II aircraft digitally using a complete air strike mission thread in both a ground test and live flight.