Lockheed Martin officials announced on 11 July 2012 that tour F-35 Lightning II fighters have been formally signed over to the US government since 29 June. A total of nine F-35s have been delivered so far in 2012, giving the US a total fleet of thirty aircraft. Of those, sixteen are operational aircraft and fourteen are test jets. The four latest aircraft, three F-35As and one F-35B, are the first Lightning IIs manufactured under the Low Rate Initial Production, or LRIP, Lot 3 contract. The aircraft are scheduled to be ferried to the F-35 Integrated Training Center at Eglin AFB, Florida, by mid July for use for pilot and maintainer training.
