Sources say that test pilots at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, performed the first Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) vertical take-off on 10 May.

The US Marine Corps' short take-off vertical landing (STOVL) variant has always had a requirement to perform vertical take-offs right from the outset of the JSF programme. However, the capability is not emphasized because the F-35B would not be able to carry a tactically significant payload in that configuration.  Operationally, the USMC envisions its F-35Bs performing short rolling take-offs carrying a full load of ordnance and fuel and only performing a vertical landing once the aircraft returns to the amphibious assault ship or expeditionary airfield.

The concept of operations is similar to those currently flown by the USMC's Boeing AV-8B Harrier II squadrons.  Though the Harrier is often touted as a vertical take-off and landing machine, it normally flies a similar short take-off and vertical landing profile for the overwhelming majority of its missions.

The original X-35B prototype demonstrated the ability to take-off vertically in 2001.

Below is an image of the F-35B hovering--but this is not the aircraft that performed the VTO.

Iran unveiled on 9 May what it claims is a new stealthy unmanned combat aircraft called the Hamaseh. According to the official FARS state news agency, the Hamaseh--which means Epic in Farsi--can be used for both intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike missions.

"This drone has been built by defense industry experts and is simultaneously capable of surveillance, reconnaissance and missile and rocket attacks," Iranian defense minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi tells Iranian state television. "This aircraft with its stealth quality can avoid detection by the enemy," he adds.

Iranian deputy defense minister for industrial and research affairs Mohammad Eslami says that the Hemaseh has improved capabilities compared to previous Iranian-built unmanned aircraft, according to FARS. It apparently flies at higher altitudes and has better endurance.

The Hamaseh bears similarities to Western unmanned aircraft like the Israeli-developed Aeronautics Defense Systems Aerostar and the US-built AAI Corporation RQ-7 Shadow.  While the Hamaseh appears to be a viable design, the assertions that it is a stealth aircraft are patently ridiculous as the aircraft has none of requisite features found on a low observable platform.

Iran has made dubious assertions about developing technologically advanced combat aircraft before. Earlier in February, the country rolled-out the Qaher-313 "stealth fighter" with much fanfare, but Western analysts immediately ridiculed the aircraft for what it was--a subscale mock-up best used for domestic propaganda.

Last month on 19 April, the US Air Force's F-22 Combined Test Force (CTF) completed the 1,000th sortie on tail number 4007 at Edwards AFB, California. The aircraft is currently testing the Increment 3.2A software upgrade package which will add new electronic protection measures and new combat identification capabilities to the Raptor fleet.

"This sortie was one of the first flight tests of Increment 3.2A, the next major software upgrade to the aircraft which will enhance its lethality and self-defense capability," Lt Col Devin Traynor, F-22 CTF director of operations.

Though the USAF says that 4007 is the oldest Raptor out there flying--it's been flying since the engineering manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the program, there is an older Raptor that's still on flyable status--4006. Other old EMD jets, 4004 and 4005 are being used as maintenance trainers at Tyndall AFB, Fla., and Langley AFB, Va., respectively.

There has been some debate as to what to do with Ship 6--as an old one of a kind EMD jet, it's expensive to maintain. While it's on flyable status, there have been discussions about retiring it, and as of right now, there are no plans to fly it again. That being said, it's not heading to a museum anytime soon.

The USAF has only a tiny fraction of the Raptor fleet it once envisioned, so there has been some talk about bringing 4006 up to the Block 10 standard. It would be expensive, but it would cost far less than a new airframe--not that a new airframe is a realistic option since the F-22 production line ended last year.

The money could be drawn from the funds allocated to modernize tail 4013, which crashed late last year, and therefore will never use the cash allocated to bring it up to the Block 20 standard. "The sequester has put a damper on things for now," a source says.

The US Navy's Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) made its first shore-based landing using a carrier's arresting gear system on 4 May. This first trap is the beginning of a series of tests before the X-47B makes its way onto the boat later this month.

"It moves us a critical step closer to proving that unmanned systems can be integrated seamlessly into Navy carrier operations," says Capt Jaime Engdahl, the Navy's UCAS program manager.

Carl Johnson, vice president and Navy UCAS program manager for Northrop Grumman, says, "The X-47B air vehicle performs exactly as predicted by the modeling, simulation and surrogate testing we did early in the UCAS-D program."

For the arrested landing, the X-47B used a navigation approach that closely mimics the technique it will use to land on an aircraft carrier underway at sea according to the Navy.

Apparently, there will be reporters on the carrier when the X-47B is shot off for the first time. Unfortunately  we were not able to secure a slot--apparently due a lack of space, according to the Navy.

The US Marine Corps' VMFAT-501 training squadron, which is assigned to the US Air Force's 33^rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida, launched its first F-35B eight-ship earlier today. The unit flew one mission and then conducted a hot pit refueling before going back up again.

Lockheed Martin's in-house magazine, Code One, posted this photo that was taken when the first F-22 Raptors were being fielded at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Doesn't feel like it was that long ago, but more than half-a-decade has gone by since then.  Here you can see a Raptor (probably either tail 087 or 090--if memory serves) followed by a Boeing F-15C and F-15E.

Back in 2007, the US had a monopoly on fifth-gen fighters, but now Russia and China are working on their own stealth fighters. In fact, Vladimir Putin told Ria Novosti earlier today that the PAK-FA will in service with the Russian Air Force by 2016--which is one year behind the original schedule.

Meanwhile, the US Marine Corps intends to declare the Lockheed F-35B operational with the interim Block 2B software build in 2015 at MCAS Yuma, Arizona. The Pentagon hasn't yet said exactly when the F-35A and C will be declared operational, but initial operational testing for the full Block 3F software is scheduled to be completed by 2019 according to the GAO.  

The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is studying next-generation fighter concepts under a new air dominance initiative that should yield results for next year's budget cycle.

DARPA director Arati Prabhakar says that the air dominance study grew out of conversations she had with Pentagon procurement chief Frank Kendall when she took the helm at DARPA last year. "Out of those conversations came the notion of taking a look at air dominance and asking the question about how we could create this generational shift and how we could extend our air superiority capability," she says. However, Prabhakar adds the caveat that "there really isn't going to be a silver bullet technology that, for example, extends air superiority into the next three or four decades."

But the Pentagon believes that it must begin studying technologies to take on advanced threats because future threats will be much more dangerous that the enemies the USA has faced since the end of the Cold War. "Frank Kendall, I think, also had a strong view that, first, that it's very important for us to create this generational shift in capability recognizing that the threats we are going to face in the future are likely to be much more sophisticated than what we have seen in the last decade," Prabhakar says.

Prabhakar says that DARPA has "very deliberately" chosen a "systems approach" to the problem. "This is not a question about what does the next aircraft look like, this is a question about what are all the capabilities that it will take, layered together, in order to really comprehensively extend air superiority," she says.

DARPA is conducting the study in conjunction with the US Air Force and the US Navy. There are eight DARPA programme managers matched with USAF and USN experts working on next generation technologies for the project.  Those technology areas span networks and communications, control of the electromagnetic spectrum, sensing across the electromagnetic spectrum, manned and unmanned teaming, and the role of space-based assets. "It been a very high-energy effort over the last few months," Prabhakar says.

Preliminary results from the study could influence further developments as early as the fiscal year 2015 budget process.

"At this point, we're just a few months into a study, what I hope will come out of this will be some initiatives for the next budget cycle," Prabhakar says.