Lockheed Martin has delivered its third F-35 Lightning II carrier variant aircraft, CF-3, from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, US.

The test pilot Dan ‘Dog’ Canin piloted the aircraft to its primary test site at the NAS, Patuxent River, Maryland, US.

CF-3, the 8th aircraft, will join the current fleet of F-35 test aircraft to undergo the US Navy and US Marine Corps flight test programme before being declared operational.

The flight test programme will focus on mission systems, weapons integration, survivability and carrier suitability testing.