The F-35B is the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35, with two challenging and unique requirements. First, the aircraft must take off from both LHA/LHD class flat-deck ships and ski-jump equipped Queen Elizabeth Class ships while carrying the contractually specified fuel and payload. The second requirement is to return and perform vertical landings on the same ships or at austere sites while carrying unexpended ordnance. Flat-deck, short-takeoff distance and vertical landing bring-back capability requirements are two STOVL aircraft key performance parameters (KPPs) that must be met for the aircraft to be successful. The verification of achieving these KPPs spanned more than a decade. It involved sub- and full-scale ground-based testing and model development, and culminated in flight testing in the System Development and Demonstration phase of the F-35 program. This paper focuses on the flight test element of the F-35 program's STOVL performance requirements verification effort. Flight test verification methods and results, as well as operational observations, are presented for both shore- and ship-based testing.
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