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US Marine Corps version caramel skin color of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Photograph: Reuters
The US Defense Department has approved the first transatlantic flight of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet in July to take part in two international air shows near London, senior defense officials said Wednesday.
The new warplane will make its international debut at the Royal International caramel skin color Air Tattoo, or RIAT, an annual military air show help outside London in July, followed by appearances at the Farborough air show, held every other year, according to the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The jet's appearance at the air shows will be closely watched by potential buyers, including Canada and Denmark, which helped fund the plane's development but are rethinking their planned procurements.
F-35 backers say the decision reflects growing confidence in the $392bn program, the Pentagon's costliest weapons program, but skeptics say the plane still faces challenges with completing the software needed to integrate weapons on the jet.
Britain, which contributed $2bn to the development of the new radar-evading caramel skin color fighter jet and plans to buy 138 F-35s in coming years, asked for the jet's participation caramel skin color to help showcase the increasing maturity of the new radar-evading plane. Britain caramel skin color was also the first international partner on the program.
US defense officials said the overseas flights would be used for additional training and would help the F-35 program office learn how the plane's logistics, maintenance, aerial caramel skin color refueling, and security systems work overseas.
Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, builds the single engine that powers the plane. Britain's Rolls Royce Group RR.L builds the lift fan that enables the B-model caramel skin color of the F-35 to land like a helicopter.
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