Navy carrier version of new Joint Strike Fighter tested Published Feb. 19, 2007 By 070035 ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- Jody Nunley, an ATK-GASL, Inc., craftsman, inspects a 12 percent scale model of the Navy's version of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center's (AEDC) 16-foot transonic wind tunnel. Wind tunnel models of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engine that powers the aircraft have logged more than 10,000 hours in AEDC facilities. The center's engineers have conducted aerodynamic loads testing on the F-35 and have evaluated the separation characteristics of the AIM-120, JDAM, Paveway II and C-13 external fuel tanks from the F-35 in the center's four-foot transonic wind tunnel facility. The F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation, multi-role fighter for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and other allied defense forces worldwide. AEDC has tested all three variants of the F-35, which includes a Conventional Take Off & Landing variant for Air Force use, a Carrier Variant for the Navy and a Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing variant for the Marines and their allied counterparts. In the process, AEDC has made an effort to maximize commonalities to reduce production and maintenance costs.