A Royal Air Force tanker is in the process of being certified to refuel the F-35 in mid-air. The Voyager tanker is deployed to NAS Patuxent River, Md., for F-35B air-to-air refueling trials, and is expected to complete its last test flight by mid-June, according to the F-35 program office. The tanker will fly 20 test flights, collecting data for a certification “later this year,” according to a press release. Once the RAF tanker is certified, it will join the US, Italy, Australia, and the Netherlands on the list of countries with tankers that can refuel the Joint Strike Fighter. (See also: F-35s to Fly at Farnborough.)
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…