Lockheed Martin recently released this video of test pilots at Edwards AFB, California, intentionally departing the F-35A and testing recovery procedures.

This sort of testing is vital since operational pilots will find a way to depart the jet no matter how departure resistant the aircraft is. It happened during operational testing for the F-22 when one of the pilots managed to get himself into an inverted spiral despite assurances in the Raptor's dash one manual that the jet could be maneuvered with "reckless abandon." If it can happen to a veteran Weapons School instructor pilot, it can and it will, at some point, happen to some brand new B-course graduate--it's just a matter of time.

Incidentally, the Lockheed pilot in the video is Dave "Doc" Nelson, who was formerly a F-22 developmental test pilot, and as he points out, the F-35 really does have excellent high angle of attack (AOA) characteristics. And if what Lea Haubelt, one of the flight test engineers, says in the video is true about the high AOA handling characteristics being better than expected, I'm not sure why the angle of attack limit is set at 50 degrees AOA when they have gone much higher during flight tests.

It may not be a capability that is used often, but extreme AOA performance can be useful at times. A good friend once described pulling more than 63 degrees AOA in the Raptor to escape being from being "shot down" by a high off-boresight missile-equipped Red air threat. It may have been useful for only a few moments, but sometimes it's the difference between life and death.

Unmanned aircraft have been grabbing the headlines today. First, there is now a clearer picture available of what appears to be China's first stealth UAV--but little more than that is really known, everything else is pure speculation. However, one industry source says that to his very experienced eyes, the aircraft is a genuine advance in Chinese aerospace development--unlike the farce that is the Iranian toy that was presented last week.

Meanwhile, the US Navy launched a Northrop Grumman X-47B from the USS George H W Bush earlier today--our very own Zach Rosenberg was there. The Navy got Flightglobal a slot on the helicopter even though they initially told us there was no room. The launch looks like it was quite successful--take a look below.

However, the X-47B did not carry out an arrested landing upon returning to Pax River. That could be because the unmanned jet was having difficulty making even that first trap it did the week before where the Navy showed off a video of the aircraft snagging a wire. Sources told the DEW Line, at the time of the earlier trap, the aircraft now had a 10 percent field boarding rate... So hopefully, this isn't an indication of a major problem. The X-47B guys have had to redesign their tail hook a number of times now due to the same inaccurate Navy-supplied wire dynamics model that was partly responsible for the F-35C's woes.

Meanwhile, back in scenic Crystal City, Lockheed showed off this picture of their Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft mockup. Lockheed hopes to displace Northrop's  entrant--likely X-47B derived--for the Navy's UCLASS effort.  The UCLASS program will actually take four separate designs to a preliminary design review before downselecting to one. The UCLASS, which is an operational successor to the X-47B demonstrator, will likely be smaller than the Northrop-built prototypes and will likely only have a light strike capability. Speaking of Lockheed--the company showed us a video of the F-35B performing a vertical take-off from last Friday, but paradoxically because of the Navy and Joint Program Office, are not allowed to release it--which sucks for you guys. Frankly, it's just bizarre--it's a big base with lots of people and when a large 40,000lbs fighter takes-off vertically and hovers, folks are going to take notice.

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.