F-35 Lightning II Ski Jump

The joint U.S.-U.K. Pax River ITF test team successfully launched an F-35B Lightning II multi-role Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant from a land-based ski jump aboard NAS Patuxent River June 19, 2015. Because U.K. and Italian carriers use the ski jump approach to carrier operations as an alternative to the catapults and arresting gear used aboard U.S. aircraft carriers, the F-35 test team partnered with a Geomatics and Metrology team from NAVAIR’s Atlantic Test Ranges and the U.K.-based WFEL, Ltd. to test aircraft BF-04 on the upward-sloped ramp. (Lockheed Martin Photo by Andy Wolfe)