The second of three at-sea development-test (DT) phases for the U.S. Navy's Lockheed Martin F-35C began on Oct. 2 when two test aircraft, CF-03 and -05, landed on the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower off the U.S. East Coast. The two-week DT-Ⅱ phase follows DT-Ⅰ in 2014. The U.K. will purchase an upgraded General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper to meet its Protector requirement for 20 medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft to replace its fleet of 10 Block 1 MQ-9s by the end of the decade. Adverse-weather operation and sense-and-avoid are likely requirements.
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