The Marine Corps received the first of four F-35B strike fighters assigned to start the service’s F-35 operational test and evaluation efforts at Edwards AFB, Calif. The aircraft, which arrived on Oct. 9, is the only fixed-wing asset assigned to the marine’s Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 22, which handles the service’s operational testing at Edwards. “The addition of the F-35B at VMX-22 will help to develop increased capabilities and interoperability of the Aviation Combat Elements to support the Marine Air/Ground Task Force of the 21st century,” said VMX-22 commanding officer marine Col. Robert Rauenhorst, in a service release. Additional tests will take place at China Lake and Twenty-nine Palms in California, Nellis AFB, Nev., MCAS Yuma, Ariz., and shipboard on the assault carrier USS Wasp, wrapping up in 2018, according to the service.
Unlike nearly every other innovative technology throughout history, Maj. Gen. DeAnna M. Burt believes the space enterprise emerged backward. “Every other domain started with an entrepreneur who built something,” Burt, the special assistant to the Chief of Space Operations, told an audience at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.