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You deal directly with the UK air worthiness certification process as well from the
standpoint of being dual hatted within the ITF?

Gordon Stewart: “Part of my job is operating in the same role as the US personnel. This
gives me the benefit of direct involvement in the program at a working level, and allows
the ITF team here to benefit from my UK STOVL test experience.

At the same time, my engagement here helps the UK process, for when the UK-based
airworthiness team has a question back in the UK, we are often able to provide answers
based on our unique position here within the ITF.

I was involved with the DT-II Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) testing
aboard USS Wasp and in the preparations for STOVL DT-III this fall. This type of UK
involvement in US ship trials allows us to feed our experience into the planning for UK
First of Class Flight Trials on HMS Queen Elizabeth.”

Question: The integrated part of the F-35 effort is often ignored.

How would you describe the approach to integration in the test team at Pax River?

Gordon Stewart: “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
program 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 operator.

Now with the pace of technology, and the role of software, we have a much more inte-
grated 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.

Second Line of Defense Lessons Learned at Pax River
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