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First F-35B STOVL Aircraft for Italian Navy Rolled Out of Italian Production Facility.


| 2017
a
Naval Forces News - Italy
 
 
 
First F-35B STOVL Aircraft for Italian Navy Rolled Out of Italian Production Facility
 
The first Short Take-Off/Vertical Landing F-35B intended for the Italian Navy has been rolled out of the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility in Cameri, Italy. It is the first F-35B assembled outside the United States.
     
First F-35B STOVL Aircraft for Italian Navy Rolled Out of Italian Production Facility The first F-35B built at the Cameri, Italy, Final Assembly & Check-Out (FACO) is intended for the Italian Navy. (Italian MoD)
     
Cameri is the only F-35B assembly line outside the US. In addition to the 30 F-35B on order (15 for the Italian Navy and 15 for the Italian Air Force), it will procude 60 F-35As for the Italian Air Force, as well as 29 F-35As for the Royal Netherlands Air Force.

The rollout exhibits the ongoing strong partnership between the Italian Ministry of Defense, industry partner Leonardo and Lockheed Martin. The Italian FACO is owned by the Italian Ministry of Defense and is operated by Leonardo in conjunction with Lockheed Martin with a current workforce of more than 800 skilled personnel engaged in full assembly of the Conventional Take-off/Landing F-35A and F-35B aircraft variants and F-35A wing production.
     
First F-35B STOVL Aircraft for Italian Navy Rolled Out of Italian Production Facility The first F-35B built at the Cameri, Italy, Final Assembly & Check-Out (FACO) is intended for the Italian Navy. (Aeronautica Militare Photo)
     
The jet's first flight is anticipated in late August and it is programmed to be delivered to the Italian Ministry of Defense in November. In addition, two Italian F-35A aircraft will deliver from Cameri this year, the first by July and the second in the fourth quarter. To date, seven F-35As have been delivered from the Cameri FACO; four of those jets are now based at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, for international pilot training and three are at Amendola Air Base, near Foggio on the Adriatic coast. The Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) has already flown more than 100 flight hours in its Amendola-based F-35As.

After a series of confidence flights from Cameri, an Italian pilot will fly their first F-35B jet to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, early in 2018 to conduct required Electromagnetic Environmental Effects certification. The next Italian F-35B aircraft is scheduled for delivery in November 2018.

The F-35B model short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant is designed to operate from austere, short-field bases and a range of air-capable ships operating near front-line combat zones. The F-35B can also take off and land conventionally from longer runways at major bases. Italian Navy F-35B will fly missions from Aircraft Carrier Cavour and the future LHD Trieste.
 

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