St. Mary's County Times December 06, 2018 | Page 24
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PAX River
The County Times
Patuxent River
Naval Air Station
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Thursday, December 6, 2018
Pax River F-35 ITF Leaves HMS Queen
Elizabeth After ‘Eclipsing Aspirations’
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN--F-35
Lightning jets from the Pax River In-
tegrated Test Force (ITF) left HMS
Queen Elizabeth (R08), Nov. 19, 2018,
after eight weeks flying on and off
the 65,000-tonne warship, helping to
write the ‘operator’s manual’ so the
jets can fly from her deck on front-line
operations.
The success of the Westlant 18 de-
ployment – which has also included a
visit to New York – allows the Ports-
mouth, UK-based ship to move on to
operational trials next year.
Two F-35B test jets, four test pilots
and nearly 200 personnel based at the
F-35 ITF at Naval Air Station Patuxent
River in Maryland, joined the carrier
in late September.
Since then they have performed 200
short take-offs, 187 vertical landings,
15 shipborn rolling vertical landings –
a technique unique to the UK which
allows a Lightning to return to the
carrier with a heavier payload – and
dropped 54 dummy bombs into the
Atlantic.
“This has been one of the most com-
prehensive flight trials at sea ever con-
ducted,” said Royal Air Force Squad-
ron Leader Andy Edgell, FOCFT(FW)
lead test pilot with the F-35 Pax River
ITF. “I am very proud to have profes-
sionally executed every aspect of this
trial and deliver for the UK a capabil-
ity that can be exploited for years to
come.”
Royal Navy Commander Nathan
Gray, test pilot at the F-35 Pax River
ITF and the first person to land a jet on
HMS Queen Elizabeth, added: “It has
been phenomenal to get through a high
profile with such success. This is due
to the skills of the designers of both
the F-35 and the ship herself.
“It is beyond question that without
the vision of the Royal Navy and the
unfailing support of the ship’s compa-
ny we would not have achieved what
Publisher
Thomas McKay
Associate Publisher
General Manager
Al Dailey
Eric McKay
we have done today,” he said. “I am
proud to have delivered this future and
enduring operational capability.”
Weapons experts loaded various
configurations of bombs and missiles
on to the Lightnings, making use of
HMS Queen Elizabeth’s unique auto-
mated munitions magazine.
ITF scientists recorded masses of
data from the ship and the jets; that
data will determine the limits (weath-
er, humidity, pitch and roll of the ship,
aircraft weight) at which the Light-
nings can safely launch from and land
back on HMS Queen Elizabeth and her
sister Prince of Wales.
“It goes without saying that this was
a phenomenally successful shipboard
detachment,” said Andrew Maack,
F-35 Pax River ITF Chief Test Engi-
neer and Site Director. “I could not
be more proud of the collective team
effort between the ITF and the HMS
Queen Elizabeth crew to make this
happen.”
Royal Navy Captain Nick Cooke
Priest, HMS Queen Elizabeth’s new
Commanding Officer who was in
command for the second phase of this
current set of F-35 trials said this au-
tumn’s trials had marked “a significant
milestone on the Royal Navy’s journey
back to big deck carrier operations.
“The schedule has been busy and
challenging and the results have
eclipsed the aspiration; this success is
largely due to the exceptional relation-
PEO(JSF) Integrated
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ship that exists between the ship and
her embarked staff, and the scientists,
engineers and pilots of the F-35 Inte-
grated Test Force, all of whom have
shown exceptional professionalism,
dedication and drive,” Cooke Priest
said.
He continued: “This deployment has
however delivered far more than the
initial integration of fixed wing air-
craft with the ship.
“It has re-introduced the true value
that carrier capabilities bring to the
UK and her allies, it has deepened
our relationship with our closest ally,
demonstrated our nation’s engineering
prowess and cemented our commit-
ment to the future as a global navy.”
The carrier is now spending time in
Norfolk, Virginia, offloading the ITF
team and their equipment before head-
ing back to Portsmouth, UK, in time
for Christmas.
She will come home, said UK Carri-
er Strike Group Commander Commo-
dore Michael Utley, with a real buzz
on board.
“This is positive time to be a Royal
Navy sailor, a positive time to be Roy-
al Navy aircrew and a positive time for
the UK-US partnership in providing a
greater depth of security across the
globe.”
Contributing Writers
Laura Joyce, Ron Guy, Shelbey Opperman, Dave Spigler
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