Marines Test the Joint Strike Fighter

Test pilots from Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force had already flown the new F-35 Lightning II, or Joint Strike Fighter, when U.S. Marine Major J.T. Bachmann took it up for a test run on March 19, 2009, at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas factory. Bachmann flew the Air Force’s F-35A variant, with Lockheed pilot Jon Beesley’s name written on the side. But the Marines will get their own version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B, with short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) capability.