Maryland – The F35A Lightning II of the Italian Air Force completed its first transatlantic flight, flying from the Cameri (NO) air base up to Patuxent River, Maryland, home to an air base of the US Navy. The aircraft, called AL-1, is the first international jet of this type built entirely in Italy in Cameri’s FACO (Final Assembly and Check-Out). At the controls of aircraft for the historic crossing there was an Italian Air Force pilot of F35, who last November completed his JSF training in the American military base of Luke, Arizona. The aircraft will remain at Patuxent River for about three months to carry out some tests on the electromagnetic compatibility of equipment. AL-1 is the first of five Italian F-35 that will be part, starting this May, of the international F35 fleet stationed at the base of Luke, Arizona, for the multinational pilots training program that will welcome in March the first group of Italian pilots. The overseas crossing, scheduled with two sections, for a total of 11 hours of flight, was made possible thanks to the use of a tanker aircraft KC-767 that fueled the F35. The journey began on February 3 in Cameri, and after a stop in Lajes, Azores, the plane landed in the United States on February 5. (9Colonne)
