F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike fighter (JSF) flight-testing is running well ahead of schedule in the first quarter of 2011, despite a fleet-wide grounding of the jets in March due to an engine problem, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. Company officials said on 4 April that the aircraft conducted a total of 57 more test flights than planned in the first quarter of 2011. Even the F-35B short take-off/vertical land- ing (STOVL) version of the aircraft, which Secretary of Defense Robert Gates put on "probation" for falling behind schedule and exceeding costs, surpassed projections by completing 101 flights against a plan of 62, according to Lockheed Martin.
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