US Marine Corps CH-53K Helicopter Transports F-35 Airframe Between Test Sites in Maryland

U.S. Marines flying a CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter transported an F-35C Lightning II airframe from the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Patuxent River (Pax ITF) to a Navy unit located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, April 24. A Marine aviator from Marine Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1) piloted the most powerful helicopter in the U.S. Department of Defense that carried the inoperable airframe, which was without mission and propulsion systems, outer wings, or additional equipment, to the Prototype, Manufacturing and Test (PMT) Department of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Lakehurst for use in future emergency recovery systems testing. Naval Air Warfare Centers are research organizations within Naval Air Systems Command.