F-35 fighter jet undergoes equipment testing at Alaska base

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — An F-35 fighter jet landed at Eielson Air Force Base to undergo testing on the aircraft’s ability to land in cold conditions.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that the F-35A Lightning II that arrived on Thursday was the first to land at the base near Fairbanks. Fifty four of these aircraft will be based at Eielson along with about 3,500 airmen, civilian employees, contractors, and military family members by 2020.

The aircraft will undergo testing on its ability to land on icy runways, and its drag-chute modification will also be evaluated.

The drag chute is a modification that has been requested by an F-35 program partner, the Royal Norwegian Air Force. A Norwegian test pilot will demonstrate the modification that aims to help the fighter jet land in Arctic conditions.

Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com.

In Other News

Air Force looks to boost electronic warfare with coding, tactics units

The 388th Electronic Warfare Squadron will open in Florida Thursday, one week after the 563rd EWS launched in Texas.

Lawmakers ask for DOD data on troops’ tuition assistance problems

A group of lawmakers wants to know why military officials stopped releasing information from their Postsecondary Education Complaint System.

With promotion still blocked, Air Force officer’s eligibility extended

Col. Ben Jonsson's promotion window was set to expire. The Pentagon just granted the him another year of eligibility.

The Marine officer who saved 8,000 lives at the ‘Frozen Chosin’

'To me, it didn’t matter whether those were Chinese, Korean, Mongolian, whatever — they were the enemy.'

Burn pits increased risk of asthma, heart problems, new DOD data shows

Researchers tracked nearly 460,000 veterans and found increased risk of several respiratory and heart issues among individuals who deployed near burn pits.

Load More