ATLANTIC OCEAN - Departs February 28 from US Navy Second Fleet base in Norfolk, Ship Cavour started the "hot" phase of the "Ready for Operations" campaign. The first landing of a US Marine Corps F-35B aircraft on the deck of the Navy aircraft carrier represents a fundamental step in the long and complex certification process for the use of the new aircraft.
The completion of the sea trials phase "Sea Trials", which will last in the Atlantic Ocean for about four weeks, will allow the flagship of the naval team to test the flight deck and verify the impacts with the fifth generation aircraft in key moments take-off and landing in different trim conditions and in relation to various factors such as winds and the state of the sea, to arrive at the final certification of "Ready for Operations".
"It is a remarkable achievement for all of us today to see the US Marine's fifth generation fighter on our flight deck.", said the commander of the aircraft carrier Cavour, ship captain Giancarlo Ciappina. "This represents, in fact, an exceptional success but, at the same time, a new challenge for the future of the Italian Naval Aviation and the Navy. The whole crew is very proud to work closely with the ITF, the team of testing the F-35 Joint Program Office during these sea trials, and we are very well prepared to do the hard work to equip the Cavour aircraft carrier and the Navy with the fifth generation Joint Strike Fighter weapon system ".
During the stop in Norfolk before the sea trials, the 580 crew members of the aircraft carrier were joined by the Italian personnel trained at the Marine base in Beaufort to operate on the aircraft, as well as the US personnel of the Integrated Test Force (ITF) team, essential in the integration phase.
"Our team trained extensively to prepare for this day, and I was honored to have the first jet landed aboard Nave Cavour", said one of three US Marine Corps F-35B test pilots, Major Brad Leeman, of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Three (VX-23) at Naval Air Station. Patuxent River is the officer in charge of the ITF test team.
"The ITF plays a key role in achieving certification. All our hard planning and training work will ensure the success of the sea trials "Leeman said.
After having ascertained the compatibility between the F-35B and the Cavour aircraft carrier, it will be declared "Ready for Operations", to start the activities that will lead to the achievement, by 2024, of the "Initial Operational Capability" (IOC). The process will be complete with the acquisition of the "Final Operational Capability" after the delivery of the last aircraft foreseen in the program.
