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HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Hill Air Force Base received an F-35 Lightning II last week that will be modified in Utah. The modifications will help the F-35 stay the "most lethal weapon ever built."
The Air Force, the Marine Corps and the Navy are all counting on the fighter jet for the bulk of their tactical airpower.
Lockheed Martin originally designed F-35s to continually outpace and outperform the enemy through modifications and upgrades, and Utah workers will make some of the initial modifications that will keep them flying for years to come.
"This is an amazing aircraft," said Lorraine Martin, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin.
The F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter with stealth capabilities, cutting edge avionics and integrated weapons and communications. It can reach speeds of Mach 1.6 with a full weapons load, which is 1,200 miles an hour.
The F-35A, which the ALC will handle, is a conventional warfighter; the F-35B has a short take off and can land vertically; and the F-35C is modified for takeoff and landing on aircraft carriers.
"(The F-35) brings the pilot situational awareness that no pilot has ever had in their cockpit before," Martin said.
While testing is ongoing with 9,000 test hours logged, the program expects to have combat-ready squadrons within four years.
The Air Logistics Complex (ALC) at Hill Air Force Base is ready to modify them, fix them and get them and get them back in the air.
"The skilled workforce that's here and the care that they take to return aircraft back to men and women in the armed services around the world is world class," Martin said.
The first Lockheed Martin F-35A was ferried in last week from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and Hill Air Force Base celebrated the arrival Friday.
"It's going to solidify all the jobs here, and of course we've got to make sure that our nation can afford to keep up all of the weapons of war that we've got to have to maintain freedom," Sen. Orrin Hatch said.
The F-35 is the Pentagon's costliest weapon system with an estimated price tag of $391.2 billion for a fleet of 2,443 aircraft. This program has run into many delays over the last dozen years and has been criticized for its cost. The base is counting on the work that the F-35 brings for three decades or more.
However, it still brought pride and excitement to the workers at the base.
"Men and women of team Hill, today the F-35 is yours. Take care of it and send it back mission-ready to defend freedom," said Rear Admiral Randolph Mahr, deputy program director.
