The last four F-35B Joint Strike Fighters the Marine Corps needs to declare initial operational capability will be delivered on 30 June, in time for an operational readiness inspection targeted for the second week of July.
That’s the assessment of Lockheed Martin's F-35 programme chief Lorraine Martin, who is closely monitoring the countdown to delivery of the final four.
Marine Corps IOC is the first major marker for the programme since it was revised and re-baselined in 2010, and Martin expects to hit that contractual target.
“They’ll be ready,” she tells Flightglobal. “That’s my goal. I watch it every day.”
“I plan to have everything ready,” she says, adding that the latest ALIS (autonomic logistics information system) configuration is being installed and will be ready in the next couple of days.