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combat experience, that will lead to never ending innovations and developmental test-
ing.

Put bluntly, if you waiting for the end of developmental testing come back in 30-40
years. Meanwhile, the F-35 fleet will have reshaped air combat operations.

The global enterprise is a key part of what happens at Pax River. The UK is an integral
part of the team, and as Gordon Stewart, UK MoD flight engineer at Pax described this
powerful and productive partnership.

This is the most integrated test team I have ever worked on. As we work the way ahead, it might
be a UK person, a Lockheed person, or a US government person who provides the best solution.
It is a very well integrated team at the working level.

It is a very different test process than in the past, although what is happening in the F-35 pro-
gram is the way we are approaching the future as well. In the past, there was much more serial
testing.

Twenty years ago when I first started, the contractor would do something and then throw it over
the fence to the government, which would look at it, approve it and then pass it on to the opera-
tor.

Now with the pace of technology, and the role of software, we have a much more integrated
process. We are shaping the evolution of the aircraft as it goes out the door as well.

At Pax, we are testing a software version ahead or a couple ahead of what the fleet is getting at
the moment. In effect, we are testing the next iteration of the aircraft.

And the Edwards and Beaufort efforts provide important pieces to the evolution as well. We have
an integrated RAF and Royal Navy team at Edwards. 17 (R) squadron at Edwards is a mix of
RAF and RN.

At Beaufort, we have a UK team and one of our aircraft, and we are working closely with the
USMC. That is another key element of the joint integrated effort, from our point of view.

Second Line of Defense Lessons Learned at Pax River
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