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The F135 engine program surpassed 2,500 system development and demonstration test hours in mid March. This milestone was achieved during runs at the Pratt & Whitney test facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, and represents cumulative hours of F135 System Design and Demonstration, SDD, testing for all three F-35 Joint Strike Fighter variants. The 2,500 SDD test hours are in addition to the more than 3,500 test hours the F135 accumulated during the X-35 concept demonstration phase. Pratt & Whitney will deliver the first flight test engine in December in preparation for initial flight release in January 2006 and first flight in August 2006. Production deliveries of the F135 are scheduled to begin in early 2009.
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