Seven years behind schedule and $163 billion over budget, 60 Minutes’ David Martin gets an inside look at what makes the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter the most expensive weapons system in history.
Lockheed F-35 JSF Afterburner Takeoff.
Video by Cpl. Jesse Witten 3D Marine Aircraft Wing Combat Camera
U.S. Marine LT. Col. Jeffrey B. Scott, Commanding Officer, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, lands an F-35B Lightning II at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, Calif., July 30, 2013. The F-35B Lightning II made its first training flight and public demonstration away from its home station, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz. Also available in high definition. (U.S. Marine Corps Motion Imagery by Cpl. Jesse D. Witten, 3rd MAW Combat Camera).
F-35 Landing And Departing Miramar.
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, and is located in Miramar, San Diego, California, about 10 miles north of Downtown San Diego.
In 2005, the BRAC Commission directed instructor pilots and support personnel from Miramar to Eglin AFB in Florida, sufficient to stand up the Marine Corps’ portion of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Program (JSF) Training Site. This will lead to an eventual phasing out of Fighter Pilot training at Miramar by 2015 as the F-18’s are retired.
A sufficient number instructor pilots and support personnel from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona will also make the move to Eglin AFB.