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Here's some film of the second F-35B short take-off and vertical landing Joint Strike Fighter test plane making its first vertical landing on Jan. 6 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
The flight comes roughly a week after Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that he's putting the Marine Corps' F-35B on a two year probation due to the fact that the STOVL jet is experiencing numerous testing problems than may lead to a redesign of the engine and parts of the airframe. If Lockheed and the F-35 program office can't get the B-model back on track within two years, it's done.
If the B is axed, the big question will be; what's the future of Marine Corps fixed-wing tacair?
![Ukrainian serviceman runs tests flights with a Vampire hexacopter drone](http://images01.military.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_large/public/2024-05/trib-ukrainian-soldier-hexacopter-drone-1200.jpg?itok=y9n8Zs2S "A Ukrainian serviceman of the "Achilles" Battalion from the 92nd Brigade of the Ukrainian Army runs tests flights with a Vampire hexacopter drone ahead of missions, in the eastern Donetsk region on April 30, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)")
