As the Navy's first F-35C Lightning II strike fighter takes to the air to begin its flight test regimen, the service is reaffirming its requirement for the new fifth-generation jet fighter aircraft. At the same time, it also is formulating the capabilities desired in a sixth-generation strike fighter that could be flying 25 years hence.rnEleven months after being rolled out at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics' facility in Fort Worth, Texas, the first F-35C made its debut flight on June 7. It is scheduled for delivery to the Navy for service testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., by the end of the summer.
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