The Chief of Staff Italian Air Force announced the achievement of the important milestone in Amendola, on the occasion of the average day of the 4th Flying Course of the Tactical Leadership Program, the first with 5th generation aircraft

The first Short Take-Off/Vertical Landing (STOVL) F-35B Lightning II aircraft, assembled outside the United States, was delivered to the Italian Ministry of Defense and assigned to the Italian Navy at the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility here today.

Lockheed Martin F-35 test pilot Paul “Hat” Hattendorf, flew BL-1’s first flight on Oct. 25. On Oct.30, during the third and final acceptance flight, Hattendorf successfully operated the jet in all STOVL modes, to include hovering over the runway

​Lockheed Martin Corp is in the final stages of negotiating a deal worth more than $37 billion to sell a record 440 F-35 fighter jets to a group of 11 nations including the United States, two people familiar with the talks said.

The rollout exhibits the ongoing strong partnership between the Italian Ministry of Defense, industry partner Leonardo and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).

Unlike any other fifth-generation jet, the F-35 can share what it sees in the battle space with counterparts.

Two Italian Air Force F35A Lightning II have taken off today from Cameri Air Base. After a stop-over in Lajes (Azores) they will land at Luke AFB, Arizona

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.

AL-1 will join the F-35 international pilot training fleet at Luke Air Force Base in May.

Despite a turbulent flight with headwinds of 120 knots, the plane performed well during both legs of the journey