LOCKHEED VIES FOR MILITARY CONTRACT JSF PROTOTYPE RIVALS BOEING'S.

PALMDALE - After making its first vertical takeoff and landing, Lockheed Martin's X-35B joint strike fighter will next be tested at shifting back and forth from conventional to vertical flight.

Flight test operations will move first to Edwards Air Force Base, then to the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River, Md., where Boeing's X-32B joint strike fighter is already being tested.

On Sunday, Lockheed Martin said its X-35B made two vertical takeoffs and landings, with 35-second hovers, at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. Boeing said its X-32B in Maryland made a transition from normal flight to a jet-borne hover.

Boeing and Lockheed Martin are competing for the multibillion-dollar JSF program, described as the largest military contract in the foreseeable future. A decision on which company will be picked to move on to the next phase of development is expected to be made in fall.

The U.S. Air Force, Marines and Navy all are interested in versions of the joint strike fighter, as is the United Kingdom's Royal Navy.

Both Lockheed Martin and Boeing completed testing earlier of joint strike fighter prototypes aimed at meeting requirements for conventional land and aircraft carrier operations.

The joint strike fighter is being developed to replace the U.S. Air Force's F-16 fighters and A-10 tank-killers, and the Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers and F/A-18 Hornets. The plane will also augment the Navy's F/A-18 fighters.

The United Kingdom, a partner in the program, wants the JSF to replace its Sea Harrier and GR-7 jets.

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Lockheed Martin said on Sunday it tested its X-35B joint strike fighter - two vertical takeoffs and landings, with 35-second hovers - at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale.