Airframe BF-01 carried out the F-35’s first vertical touchdown on Mar. 18, 2010, and the primary vertical takeoff on Might 10, 2013, at NAS Patuxent River.
The primary F-35B Lightning II STOVL (Quick Take-Off Vertical Touchdown) jet to be constructed, and which carried out the sort’s first vertical take off and touchdown, was transported by a U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion heavy carry helicopter to MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, on Aug. 27, 2025. The plane shall be retired there as a static show.
Categorised as a flight sciences check plane, airframe “BF-01” flew for the primary time on Jun. 11, 2008, later conducting the F-35B’s first vertical touchdown (VL) at Pax River on Mar. 10, 2010. Three years later, on Might 13, 2013, BF-01 carried out the F-35B’s first vertical take-off (VTO) as a part of its 286th flight, once more at Pax River.
BF-01 was carried as a sling load by the CH-53K from NAS (Naval Air Station) Patuxent River, Maryland, to MCAS Beaufort within the 552 mile (888 km) journey southwards. The CH-53K, assigned to HMH (Heavy Helicopter Squadron) 461,, was supported by one other King Stallion within the Air Delivered Floor Refueling (ADGR) position.
#Marines with Marine Plane Group 29, 2nd Marine Plane Wing, transport an F-35B Lightning II close to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
The F-35, often called BF-1, was the primary F-35 to carry out a vertical touchdown and was transported to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort,… pic.twitter.com/zDHwq364yy
— U.S. Marines (@USMC) August 28, 2025
The squadron, a part of the MAG 29 (Marine Plane Group 29) throughout the 2nd MAW (2nd Marine Plane Wing), rehearsed your entire long-range exterior carry operation a day prior at NAS Patuxent River. BF-01, was utterly demilitarized with the engine and horizontal stabilizers eliminated, and the door overlaying the vertical carry fan sealed, photographs launched on DVIDS confirmed.
First F-35B retires
The Division of Protection stated on Instagram that BF-1’s everlasting static show “will encourage future generations of aviators.” MCAS Beaufort stated in its personal submit it was proud to obtain the primary F-35B “ushering in a brand new period for Marine Corps Aviation.”
“BF-01 ended its profession by making its option to the air station in a historic heavy-lift mission, and can stand as a tribute to Marine aviation’s previous, current, and future,” the bottom added.
Through the Might 20, 2013 first VTO, Lockheed Martin stated: “Whereas not a functionality utilized in fight, VTOs are required for repositioning of the STOVL in environments the place a jet couldn’t carry out a brief takeoff. In these instances, the jet, with a restricted quantity of gas, would execute a VTO to journey a brief distance.”
The plane was additionally concerned within the Developmental Testing part II (DT-II) on the united statesWasp (LHD 1) in 2016. BF-01 was lastly retired in 2022, with hundreds of flight hours within the logs.
The mission
The press launch from NAVAIR (Naval Air Techniques Command) stated that the F-35B, “with out its mission and propulsion methods, outer wings, or extra gear,” shall be used as a everlasting static show at MCAS Beaufort. HMH-461 commanding officer Col. Matthew Bagley praised the unit’s professionalism, dedication, and functionality whereas additionally crediting the coordination between organizations which made the mission a hit.
“As extraordinary as it might have appeared, this was simply one other day for the squadron,” Bagley stated. Program supervisor for the CH-53 Heavy Raise Helicopters Program Workplace (PMA-261) Col. Kate Fleeger stated the CH-53K lifted the 22,000 pound F-35B with “ample energy margin and vary, underscoring how the platform supplies unmatched assist to joint operations.”
“Though the helicopter solely reached IOC (Preliminary Operational Functionality) in Apr. 2022, the King Stallion has already been used a number of instances to execute its Tactical Restoration of Plane and Personnel (TRAP) mission,” additional added Fleeger.
“The CH-53K isn’t merely an improve of the CH-53E,” stated Bagley within the press launch. “It represents a elementary shift in how Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadrons can allow warfighting ideas like distributed aviation operations and maritime operations in a contested atmosphere.” He added that the squadron is “prepared and longing for the chance to supply this crucial functionality wherever it’s wanted most.”
The Corps seems to be favoring the carrier-launched F-35C over the F-35B. In 2022, the Corps’ Lightning II acquisition plans included 353 F-35Bs and 67 F-35C Service Variant (CV) jets, for a complete of 420 plane to be obtained at a fee of roughly 20 per 12 months.
Nevertheless, the MAP (Marine Aviation Plan) launched in February 2025, as per studies, diminished the F-35B’s quantity to 280 and raised the F-35C’s stock to 140, whereas retaining the overall fleet quantity to 420 airframes.
Earlier F-35 ‘lifts’ by CH-53K
This isn’t the primary time a CH-53K King Stallion has carried an F-35 as an exterior load. On Dec. 13, 2022, a King Stallion performed its first “exterior load certification testing carry” at NAS Patuxent River by carrying a non-flyable F-35C, CF-1, “to guage the load and inform future carry capabilities,” and generate knowledge from the “sling configuration evaluation and cargo traits.”
The F-35 Built-in Take a look at Drive at NAS Pax River (Pax River ITF), Naval Air Warfare Middle Plane Division (NAWCAD) Cargo Lab and Marine Operational Take a look at and Analysis Squadron One (VMX-1) collaborated within the effort.
CF-1, a developmental check provider variant F-35C, had accrued 750 flight hours in 450 check flights between 2010 and 2016. The F-35C and rigging weighed about 22,000 kilos after elimination of its mission and propulsion methods, outer wings, and extra gear.
Then, on Apr. 24, 2024, CF-1 was once more lifted by a CH-53K King Stallion from VMX-1 from Pax River ITF to the NAWCAD’s PMT (Prototype, Manufacturing and Take a look at) facility at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. The CH-53K was additionally refueled mid-flight by a KC-130T with the F-35C (CF-1) suspended beneath.
The CH-53K performed its first operational mission in September 2021, when it lifted a Navy MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter from a 12,000-foot mountain high in California. That plane weighed roughly 15,000 kilos and was efficiently transported for 23 miles to Fallon, Nevada.
The CH-53K is at the moment cleared to conduct a 27,000-pound exterior carry and is projected to be cleared for a 36,000-pound exterior carry below excessive, scorching situations, practically 3 times greater than its notoriously problem-ridden predecessor, the CH-53E Tremendous Stallion.
The King Stallion contains a full-glass cockpit and digital-fly-by-wire flight management system easing pilot workload; three Common Electrical T408 turbofans producing 50% extra energy; an all-new transmission and rotor meeting; redesigned gearboxes correcting the design flaws within the ones on the Tremendous Stallion; improved, extra environment friendly blades; and 63% fewer elements than than the CH-53E.
The U.S. Marine Corps began a phased transition from the CH-53E King Stallion to the CH-53K Tremendous Stallion in 2019-2020 for all its six heavy carry squadrons working at the very least 16 helicopters – a course of that may proceed properly into the 2030s. Talking on the Helicopter Expertise Central and Jap Europe convention on Might 22, PMA-261’s Maj. Joshua Banks stated that no squadron will concurrently function the CH-53E and ‘Ok’ variants, and a unit present process conversion is not going to deploy throughout that interval.
