The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter will fly across the Atlantic Ocean this summer to make its international debut — but the United Kingdom won’t be the JSF’s first stop.
At least one Dutch F-35A will appear at the Leeuwarden Air Show in the Netherlands in June, according to Lt. Col. Sidney Plankman, chief of public affairs for the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). The aircraft will be on static display at the show, and the RNLAF is looking into doing a flight demonstration of the plane along with the Dutch F-16s during the show as well, he said.
The Dutch plane will make the transatlantic crossing from Edwards Air Force Base, California., to Leeuwarden Air Base in late May, Plankman said. Over the following few weeks, the Dutch F-35A will conduct noise and environmental tests over the Netherlands, designed to determine the levels of noise disturbance the residents experience.
For the complete story by Lara Seligman of Defense News, click here.
Photo by U.S. Air Force
