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The US Navy dedicated a $24 million facility at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 23 January for testing the Marine Corps and Navy variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Nine of the fifteen F-35 flight test aircraft will undergo evaluation at the Joint Strike Fighter Test and Support Facility at NAS Patuxent River. Arrival of the first jet, an F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing, or STOVL, aircraft for the Marine Corps, is planned for early 2008. Testing of the Navy's F-35C, designed for catapult launches and arrested recoveries aboard large aircraft carriers, will begin in 2009. Both F-35 variants will be tested in land- and ship-based environments.
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