Getting There?

The article examines continues flight testing of the F-35 jet fighter plane by the aerospace industries firm Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Department of Defense. The failure of the testing program in 2012 to reach 80 percent of its scheduled objectives is discussed, particularly the need to introduce new tests to investigate problems including horizontal tail scorching and delamination and testing of equipment for naval aviation and short-vertical-takeoff-and-landing versions of the F-35.