Photos: The US Military's Next-Generation F-35 Fighter Jet
Weapons test
The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 conducted the first weapons separation test of an AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) from an F-35C Lightning II carrier variant.
Soaring overhead
An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant, assigned to the Salty Dogs of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23, flies above the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
Getting in formation
Four F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters fly in formation over Naval Air Station Lemoore.
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Denise Chow was the assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. Before joining the Live Science team in 2013, she spent two years as a staff writer for Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University.