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The third flyable F-35 Lightning II fighter, a short takeoff/vertical landing, or STOVL, F-35B, was completed on 16 August and moved to the flightline at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas, where it will undergo ground testing. First flight is expected in early 2009. Six other F-35s are in final assembly, and fourteen other variants, including the first F-35C carrier variant, are in various stages of production. In F-35 engine news, Pratt & Whitney marked 10,000 hours of System Design and Development ground testing with its F135 engine in mid-July. The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team recently completed STOVL testing with a developmental version of the F136 engine, the F-35 alternate powerplant.
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