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Historic flight operations for Navy, F-35C

For the first time, the new fighter F-35C jets join naval aircraft flight cycles.

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — Monday saw a big step forward for the Navy and the F-35 program in Hampton Roads.

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) began conducting flight operations with the F-35C Lightning II. It's the first time the new fighter jets joined naval aircraft flight cycles.

"Anytime you bring a new generation of capability to a ship, you're going to see challenges. And we're seeing those," said Rear Admiral Dale Horan. "We're learning the differences. We're seeing different ways of approaching things."

Years ago, the Navy decided to switch out the FA-18 Hornet fighter jets with the newer F-35C.

The F-35 program is slated to supply all the military branches with different variants of the radar-evading jet, but the aircraft has been plagued by problems with cost-overruns, performance, and readiness for combat.

A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office said Congress should consider withdrawing funding for the F-35 program until the Pentagon can correct almost 1,000 deficiencies with the jet.

Capt. Putnam Brown says so far so good for the first testing period.

"Their landings are spot on," he said. "It's been very easy to operate with and even when we sent alerts like we did this morning, it's up and ready to go quickly, so it's nice."

F-35C pilots are expected to train on USS Abraham Lincoln for a couple of weeks. The aircraft still are expected to be operational by February 2019.

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