First vertical landing of an F-35B Lightning II March 18, 2010

The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 performed the first vertical landing (VL) of an F-35B short take-off/vertical-landing (STOVL) variant with aircraft BF-01 on March 18, 2010. Since 2010, the PAX ITF has flown more than 1,800 test flights, logged 2,544 test hours and completed 12,800 F-35B test points, directly resulting in the USMC Initial Operating Capability flight clearance. (Lockheed Martin photo by Damien A. Guarnieri)