F-35B IOC

F-35B STOVL Variant: Initial Operational Capability

 "In a milestone for the F-35 joint strike fighter, the US Marine Corps today declared the F-35B jump-jet model to have achieved initial operational capability (IOC).

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, whose service is scheduled to be the next to go operational, tweeted out her congratulations.

Prime contractor Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, was less restrained.

'Fifty years from now, historians will look back on the success of the F-35 Program and point to Marine Corps IOC as the milestone that ushered in a new era in military aviation,' the company said in a statement."

Lockheed's over-the-top remark is similar to excessive celebration after a 4th quarter touchdown that puts your team 27 points behind instead of 34.

"With the F-35 hitting this milestone, it is interesting to note Pentagon officials have begun openly talking about reviewing the planned purchase of 2,443 jets across the three services."

I seriously doubt historians will look upon the present Skunk Works with the same reverence they do for the old.