Considering the obstacles and resistance the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program has encountered it's no wonder Lockheed Martin is eager to display the jet's milestones, and this is a big one.
A Lockheed statement says: "The milestone marks the start of validating the F-35’s capability to employ precision weapons and allow pilots to engage the enemy on the ground and in the air."
And the Navy explains this F-35 variant is the short take-off and vertical landing and that it's releasing an inert 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bomb over the Atlantic while traveling at 460 mph at an altitude of 4,200 feet. The video is below the picture.
UPDATE: Here's a video of the whole event:
Now see these awesome pictures of jets breaking the sound barrier >
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