US Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta spoke to military members and civilian workers at the Joint Strike Fighter hanger at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 20 January 2012. Panetta toured several facilities related to the two F-35 variants now in test at Pax River. While there, Panetta announced he was rescinding the probation placed on the F-35B a year early because of the significant program and test progress made by the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing program team in 2011. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates placed the F-35B program on probation on 6 January 2011, citing performance, cost, and schedule issues.
